The Chair of the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) is Sir John Mitting. He succeeded the original chair, Sir Christopher Pitchford in July 2017.
Though not strictly required, public inquiries held under the Inquiries Act 2005 are often chaired by retired High Court judges. Some inquiries are done under the aegis of a panel of individuals.
The Chair has considerable power and autonomy over the conduct of the Inquiry, including making rulings and orders on procedural issues and the conduct of evidence hearings. Orders made by the Chair have legal force, and if breached the issues can be sent to the High Court for a finding of contempt.
The Chair is also responsible for:
- designating who is a core participant , and related matters such as legal representation and anonymity ;
- setting out the processes by which the Inquiry receives police evidence and witnesses give testimony;
- issuing findings and the reports of the Inquiry;
- where necessary, making referrals to the Miscarriages of Justice Panel, if there are suspected miscarriages of justice ;
- controlling the cost of the Inquiry .
In the UCPI, the Chair often provides Minded-To Notes and statements which set out how they are thinking of deciding and why, in order to inform submissions or to address particular issues which have come up.
They are assisted in all this by the Counsel to the Inquiry , the Secretary to the Inquiry and also the Solicitor to the Inquiry , the latter overseeing the large Inquiry Legal Team.
List of all Chairman's Statements and Minded-To Notes.