to enjoy public trust only when they are critical of the government, and tend to lose credibility when they find no fault on the part of the government. France In France, any major project which requires the compulsory acquisition of private property must, before being approved, be the subject of a public inquiry (usually by the prefect of the region or department in which the project will take place); the favourable outcome of such an inquiry is a déclaration d'utilité publique, a formal finding that the project will produce public benefit. This procedure was established by the law on expropriation enacted on 7 July 1833, which extended an earlier law enacted in 1810. Republic of Ireland South Africa A number of historically important public inquiries have taken place in South Africa since the advent of full democracy in 1994. A number of which have looked into national scale events such as systematic human rights abuses during apartheid or wide scale corruption. United Kingdom Hong Kong In Hong Kong, the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance was enacted for establishing such a commission. The commission established after the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision produced a report of its findings which they made public; an internal report was kept confidential. In the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, one of the five key demands of the protesters, was establishing another commission for the protests itself. See also Inquest, a similar investigation with lesser scope Royal Commission Tribunal Inquiries Act 2005 (UK statute which provides for the holding of inquiries) References External links National Archives full list of those UK public inquiries with websites Government