Pete Weatherby KC has provided an update on the progress of the bill and responded to some concerns raised about who it does and does not cover
Pete Weatherby QC
Pete Weatherby QC
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The co-author of the Hillsborough Law Bill has provided an update on where the landmark legislation - named after the 97 Liverpool fans who were unlawfully killed at an FA Cup Semi-Final in 1989 - and rebuffed claims being made about the new law.
Pete Weatherby KC is a hugely respected human rights barrister who led the legal team representing 22 of the Hillsborough families at the fresh inquests that corrected one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history.
He is also the co-author of the original Hillsborough Law Bill, officially titled the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords.
The new law, once finally approved, will impose a legal duty of candour on public authorities and officials to act with candour and transparency and co-operate proactively with official inquiries and investigations. The new law will also ensure there is a level playing field in terms of legal aid for bereaved families and victims of disasters and state-related deaths at inquests and inquiries.
In July, after months of wrangling and rows about how the law would affect the security services, the Hillsborough Law finally cleared the House of Commons in an historic moment.
Since Parliament returned in September, the Bill has been making its way through the House of Lords, where potential changes and amendments can be proposed by peers. These must then be agreed by the House of Commons before the Bill eventually gains Royal Assent and becomes a law.
Pete Weatherby QC
Pete Weatherby QC
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The Hillsborough Law has just completed the committee stage in the House of Lords, where it was examined in detail, clause by clause, with amendments proposed and voted on.
Speaking about the current status of the Bill, Mr Weatherby told the ECHO: "We've finished committee stage, which was three days of full house committee and there were a large number of amendments. From our perspective, there was very little that was scary. There is nothing close to what we saw with the security services."
He explained: "The next stage is report stage, which is when the government basically goes through all the amendments and decides whether any of them are going to be adopted. And then peers can force a vote.
"So far we are in good shape. We're talking to the government a lot and with the new government there is a spirit of collaboration."
But while those closest to the Bill are happy with its progress, there have been concerns raised by others that the proposed duty of candour will apply to government ministers and public officials but not individual MPs and Lords.
Mr Weatherby explained why this has never been part of the Hillsborough Law bill.
He told the ECHO: "Right from 2016 when we started the whole project, who is covered by the bill is anybody who is paid to work for the public interest in terms of being paid to do a job for the state.
"All public sector workers are covered by the duty of candour. Who isn't covered is elected representatives. So ministers are covered because they are ministers, they take executive decisions. But MPs don't. That's the distinction and that's what people find difficult to understand.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham with families of Hillsborough victims outside the House of Commons in London after the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, cleared the House of Commons.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham with families of Hillsborough victims outside the House of Commons in London after the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, cleared the House of Commons. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
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"But the reason MPs and peers aren't included is because they are elected. They are not appointed or contracted to their positions and if you included them, you'd have a massive problem with political opinion being judicialized
"So you'd have this conflict between two arms of the state: the judicial arm and the legislature. And that's what you can't have."
The eminent KC said including MPs and Peers in the duty of candour could affect the concept of parliamentary privilege, which is a set of special legal immunities and rights granted to members of both houses to allow them to speak and perform their roles without outside interference.
Mr Weatherby said: "Parliamentary privilege can be very annoying at times, but it's a very powerful democratic tool and absolutely Hillsborough is a paradigm example and there are many others. It's really quite an important part of our democracy."
He added: "We've been really clear that with Hillsborough Law we are going to change big issues like the duty of candour and parity of representation, but we're not going to try and change the world beyond that, because as soon as you start to do that, you don't change anything. It doesn't work."