ABSTRACT
This case study of the 1989 Marchioness disaster, on the River Thames, in which 51 young lives were lost, briefly reviews the disaster itself before examining the legal processes that followed it. The decision by Cecil Parkinson MP, the then Minister for Transport, to refuse a public inquiry into the disaster is examined, followed by a review of two private inquiries: the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) Inquiry 1990 (reporting 1991) and the Hayes Report of 1992 – only the former was specifically on the Marchioness disaster. The chronology and outcomes of the limited criminal charge arising from the 1988 Merchant Shipping Act, the absence of a public prosecution and the failure of the private prosecution are explored alongside the relevant judicial review cases. The civil cases for PTSD were rejected following the outcome of the Alcock case, which was covered in Chapter 6 and will not be included in this case study.
