Catalogue description The Bloody Sunday Inquiry (Saville Inquiry)

On 29th January 1998 the Prime Minister (The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP) in his statement to the House of Commons resolved: 'That it is expedient that a Tribunal be established for inquiring into a definite matter of urgent public importance, namely the events on Sunday, 30 January 1972 which led to loss of life in connection with the procession in Londonderry on that day, taking account of any new information relevant to events on that day.'

In his statement to the House of Commons on 29 January 1998 the Prime Minister (The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP) said that the timescale within which Lord Widgery produced his report meant that he was not able to consider all the evidence that might have been available. He added that since that report much new material had come to light about the events of the day. In those circumstances, he announced: 'We believe that the weight of material now available is such that the events require re-examination. We believe that the only course that will lead to public confidence in the results of any further investigation is to set up a full-scale judicial inquiry into Bloody Sunday'.

The Prime Minister also made clear in his statement that the inquiry should be allowed the time necessary to cover thoroughly and completely all the evidence available. The collection, analysis, hearing and consideration of this evidence (which was voluminous) required a substantial period of time. On 2nd February 1998, the House of Lords also passed this resolution.

The day after the incident, in 1972, the then Prime Minister (The Rt Hon Edward Heath PM) had set up a public inquiry under the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery. Lord Widgery had produced a report within 11 weeks of the day. It has been acknowledges that the timescale within which Lord Widgery produced his report meant that he was not able to consider all the evidence that might have been available and with the passage of time new material had come to light about the events of the day which prompted re-examination.

With the exception of the last 12 words, the terms of reference of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry (Saville) are identical to those for a previous Inquiry held by Lord Widgery (then the Lord Chief Justice) in 1972.

Both inquiries were conducted under the provisions of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. The Bloody Sunday Inquiry had the power to call witnesses and obtain production of papers.

The Tribunal originally consisted of The Rt Hon the Lord Saville of Newdigate, a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, The Hon William Hoyt OC, formerly the Chief Justice of New Brunswick, Canada, and The Rt Hon Sir Edward Somers, formerly a member of the New Zealand Court of Appeal. Before the Tribunal began hearing oral evidence, Sir Edward Somers retired through ill health. The Hon John Toohey AC, formerly a Justice of the High Court of Australia, took his place. Lord Saville acted throughout as the Chairman of the Inquiry.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry (Saville) was active from January 1998 until the report was published on 15 June 2010 and on the same day, the Prime Minister (The Rt Hon David Cameron MP) addressed the House of Commons regarding the contents of the report and apologised on behalf of the British Government.

According to the Saville report, the inquiry involved an examination of a complex set of events. In addition to those killed, people were also injured by army gunfire. The inquiry took the view at the outset that it would be artificial in the extreme to ignore the injured, since those shooting incidents in the main took place in the same circumstances. The inquiry also took the view that the investigation would not be confined to what happened on the day. Without examining what led up to Bloody Sunday, it would be impossible to reach a properly informed view of what happened, let alone of why it happened.