6 Aug 2019
This inquiry aims to be as open and transparent as possible.
However, sometimes anonymity is required. This can be because:
- Some core participants – including people who have been deceived into relationships with officers – want their privacy respected.
- Exposure of identities could put individuals at risk of serious injury, or in extreme cases, death, because of the nature of the deployments they have undertaken.
- Revealing identities could damage individuals or their family’s private life and contravene their human right.
In making a decision, the Chairman applies the legal principles and approach outlined by his predecessor Sir Christopher Pitchford. In doing so he considers the extent to which rejecting the application would help the Inquiry fulfil its objectives, weighing this against the grounds advanced in support of the application, which may include the public interest, and/or an individual’s safety and right to private life