The government has pledged to introduce a new ‘Hillsborough Law’ by the anniversary of the disaster in April 2025.

This announcement follows the report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights earlier this year, which supported the implementation of a law to impose a duty of candour on public bodies to assist legal proceedings. This would be supported by legal aid for victims, and an independent Public Advocate to support them.

This announcement was described as ‘a huge step’ by INQUEST, one of several organisations campaigning for such a law. The campaign group Hillsborough Law Now were ‘heartened’ by the commitment to deliver accountability across all public bodies’.

INQUEST have criticised the present system stating there is an ‘institutional defensiveness from public authorities and private corporations’ regarding the impact of their actions on victims. They argue that the lack of accountability creates a risk of these actions being repeated. Furthermore, INQUEST highlights flaws in the existing law, noting that while there is a common law duty, it is not clearly defined to require state bodies to be transparent about events involving public servants.

These circumstances have caused significant emotional and physical distress for bereaved families who have had to engage in various lengthy litigation, investigations, and inquiry processes.

The law is inspired by the deaths of 97 football fans at Hillsborough. In the aftermath, police, politicians and the media falsely blamed football fans for the disaster. Only after intense scrutiny, including private prosecutions and an independent panel report, was the falsity of that narrative shown.