Investigating accidents in the UK
Investigation Procedure
What is the investigation procedure? Investigation proceedings are not criminal investigations, but
are an inquiry in the public interest into what went wrong. The
inquiry has the power to call all witnesses who were on board the
ship at the time and put questions to them about the accident,
including the ships` officers. If they are in danger of having
their certificates suspended, they are allowed to have legal
counsel, who can also question witnesses on their behalf. How are the findings reported? A report is published following the major inquiries. Depending
on the importance of the case, the report may include the questions
asked and answers given during the examination of the witnesses.
However, the report is mainly concerned with setting out in detail
the circumstances of the accident. It gives the inquiry`s opinion
on the conduct of the ships` officers, and states whether any of
their certificates are to be suspended, and if so for how long.
Some minor inquiries may be carried out by an exchange of
correspondence between the relevant parties, and these are not
published. In cases where two ships collide, the inquiry may find
that both ships share the blame. Perhaps one was going too fast in
fog, but the other not keeping a good lookout. In that case it says
what proportion of the blame was due to each ship. This may be
important for insurance purposes.
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