B. The Investigation Process and Approach to Evidence
(1) The investigation process
68. The investigation process has throughout been conducted on a consensual basis. The DPM himself requested that the Prime Minister should commission an independent investigation. Individuals who provided information to me did so voluntarily and each was asked specifically to agree (subject to confidentiality) that I might use their information for the purpose of the investigation.
69. I had no legal powers to compel the attendance of a witness or the production of documents. However, with no material exception, I was able to interview every person I wished. Documents were also produced on request by the FCDO and the MoJ and, where relevant, by individuals.
70. The investigation was not a form of litigation and was not governed by any strict rules of procedure or evidence. As to procedure, I sought throughout to ensure that essential principles of fairness and due process were observed. In relation to evidence, I have considered all contributions as a matter of substance, and regardless of form or type. Some types of contribution (such as an account of direct experience) were obviously of greater potential weight than others (such as an account of what one person told another about their experience). I have referred in this report to all such contributions as 'evidence', but without intending to suggest that any legal rules applied to matters of admissibility or weight.
71. My team liaised with the FCDO and the MoJ in order to ascertain which individuals:
- (1) had themselves made or participated in one of the Complaints;
- (2) wished to provide evidence to the investigation in relation to a formal complaint and in respect of conduct which they alleged had been experienced either directly or by someone else;
- (3) wished to express views or recollections which were not based on direct experience.
72. I sought but did not purport to require the provision of written evidence. A total of 44 such contributions were submitted, many in the form of responses to a template questionnaire (used in part to assess which individuals I should interview) and others in the form of statements.
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