A
tribunal of inquiry is an official
review of events or actions ordered by a government body in
Common Law countries such as the
United Kingdom,
Ireland or
Canada. Such a
public inquiry differs from a
Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more public forum and focuses on a more specific occurrence. Interested members of the public and organisations may not only make (written) evidential submissions as is the case with most inquiries, but also listen to oral evidence given by other parties.