The Evidence
A huge amount of evidence was considered over the course of the Inquiry. You will find references to each relevant source in footnotes throughout the Report.
The Inquiry's evidence falls into three categories:
- Witnesses - the Inquiry took evidence from those whom it judged best placed to provide a first-hand account of events either in person or by written statement.
- Documents - written between 1997-2014 and supplied to the Inquiry by Government departments.
- Open source material - readily available documents related to the Inquiry's scope and period. For example, autobiographies of witnesses. This material has not been published on the website but has been referenced to enable the reader to locate it.
Below you will find different routes into the witness and documentary evidence which will allow you to search according to your area of interest.
Witnesses
The witness list provides links to: all video recordings of a witnesses's public hearings; transcripts of their public and private hearings; any applicable witness statements; and documents that were disclosed for the hearing.
Public Hearings
The timetable of public hearings shows the date and order in which each witness was called to give evidence.
This provides links to: the video recordings and transcripts of hearings from that day; any relevant witness statements; and any links to documents that were disclosed for those hearings, where applicable.
Private Hearings
The private hearings page provides the links to transcripts of hearings and any documents disclosed for those hearings. Private hearings were not filmed.
Witness Transcripts
The transcripts of both public and private hearings can be browsed, by witness, on the Witness Transcripts page.
Witness Statements
A number of witnesses provided written statements on a specific topic or topics. Statements can be browsed on the Witness Statements page.
Documents
The Inquiry has sought permission to disclose Government documents to support its conclusions.
Those approved for disclosure, including any redactions, are published on this website and can be accessed directly by using the search tool provided.
The process for agreeing the disclosure of Government material was laid down in a Protocol. This explains the factors that had to be weighed and why redaction may be justified in some cases.
In addition, a significant quantity of gists and quotes from documents were agreed for inclusion in the Inquiry's final Report.
Some documents were disclosed at the time of the public hearings to help provide context for the issues being explored. Where documents were disclosed at the time of the hearing, they are displayed on the relevant witness page.