Peter Skelton KC

Public Inquiries

Peter acts for all participants in the inquiries, including families, commercial organisations, government departments, charities, and the tribunals themselves.

Most recently, he has been instructed by a group of families in the Thirlwall Inquiry, a healthcare provider in the Lampard Inquiry, the Chancellor of Exchequer in the Infected Blood Inquiry, and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

Previously, Peter was Counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, where he led the Accountabilities and Reparations Investigation, which resulted in the Government’s commitment to change the law of limitation relating to historic sexual abuse claims; and Counsel to the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry, which investigated alleged state collusion in the murder of the Northern Irish solicitor by loyalist paramilitaries. He wrote the chapter on ‘The Administration of the Inquiry’ in Public Inquiries, which provides guidance on the roles and responsibilities of counsel to the inquiry, the inquiry solicitor and the inquiry secretary.

Peter also acted for the families of the victims in the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry and the Royal Liverpool Children’s Inquiry; and for two charities, the Patients Association and Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), in the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry.

Selected Cases

• Thirlwall Inquiry – for a group of families of Lucy Letby’s victims
• Lampard Inquiry – for a healthcare provider
• Covid Inquiry – for the Cabinet Office and the serving and former Cabinet Secretaries
• Infected Blood Inquiry – for the Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) – for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
• Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) – for the Inquiry
• Leveson Inquiry – for the Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime
• Al-Sweady Inquiry – for the Iraqi judges
• Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry – for the Patients Association and Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA)
• Rosemary Nelson Inquiry – for the Inquiry
• Royal Liverpool Children’s Inquiry – for the families
• Bristol Royal Infirmary Public Inquiry – for the families