‘Justice for the 97’: Fractured lives, truth recovery and the Hillsborough Law by Emeritus Professor Phil Scraton
Based on three decades of research into the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, this lecture examines how investigations and inquests failed the bereaved and survivors. It reviews the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s landmark 2012 report, the quashing of ‘accidental death’ verdicts, new inquests, and the jury’s finding of ‘unlawful killing’ due to stadium safety failures and police mismanagement. Finally, it explores the Hillsborough Law campaign, arguing that critical social research – focused on truth recovery and exposing institutional deceit – can be transformative in securing acknowledgement and accountability.
Biography: Emeritus Professor Phil Scraton, Queen’s University Belfast
Phil Scraton is Professor Emeritus, School of Law, Queen’s University. His research includes: deaths in custody and disasters; prisons and incarceration; childhood, rights and justice; the 1976-81 H-Block and Armagh prison protests; the experiences of victims/ survivors of Mother and Baby Homes/ Magdalene Laundries. His numerous books and reports include Hillsborough, The Truth; The Violence of Incarceration; The Incarceration of Women; Truth, Acknowledgement and Accountability – Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses. Awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool, he refused an OBE and was castaway on BBC’s Desert Island Discs.
Book from 16 April