16.4 |
Conclusions: Service Personnel
53.
MOD Ministers
remained closely engaged. From June 2004, Mr Geoff Hoon,
the
Defence
Secretary, received regular briefings on progress on BOIs and the
reasons for
any
delays.
54.
The
possibility of adding an independent member to a BOI was raised by
Mr Hoon
in June
2004 and by Mr Browne in December 2007. On neither occasion
was the idea
considered
seriously by the MOD.
55.
The Inquiry
recommends that the MOD consider whether an independent
member
should sit
on BOIs, in particular in order to assure families that the process
is as rigorous
and
transparent as possible.
56.
The MOD, and
in particular the Army (through the work of the Army Inquiries
and
Aftercare
Support Cell and Army Inquest Cell), continued to improve the
management of
the Service
Police investigation and BOI processes, the support provided for
bereaved
families,
and the support provided for coroners. The Army Inquest Cell
provided the
model for
the tri-Service Defence Inquests Unit, which was established in May
2008.
57.
By early 2008,
the Army had appointed permanent Presidents to lead
high-profile
Army BOIs,
and the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force had taken steps to establish
pools
of
expertise from which Presidents could be selected.
58.
The Inquiry
recommends that the MOD consider providing BOI Presidents
with
access to
expert advisers on process and standards, who would play a role
analogous
to Court
Clerks, in order to help establish consistency and best
practice.
59.
A number of
families shared with the Inquiry their concerns over the MOD’s
process
for
investigating fatalities. The concerns were:
•
Military
investigations were not sufficiently rigorous, in particular in
relation to
incidents
where there were suspicions of friendly fire or equipment
failure.
•
No action
appeared to be taken against individuals as a result of
military
investigations
(this concern also applied to inquests).
•
Material
had been redacted from the version of the BOI report that
families
received,
which made the content harder to understand. Some family
members
thought
that text had been redacted to protect individuals criticised in
reports or
to hide
failings by the MOD.
60.
The Inquiry
reviewed 25 percent of BOI investigations into Op TELIC
fatalities,
including
those that attracted the most controversy. The Inquiry also
reviewed the
15 BOI
reports into Op TELIC fatalities that are in the public
domain.
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