警方终于要求检方考虑就2017年格伦费尔塔火灾提出指控。这场火灾造成72人死亡，幸存者和遇难者家属的痛苦又因调查耗时异常漫长而加剧。如今，他们可以期待就谁将面临刑事指控作出决定。英国皇家检察署承诺，最迟将在明年6月火灾十周年纪念日前作出这一决定。
Police have at last asked prosecutors to consider charges relating to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. The suffering of those who survived or were bereaved by the blaze, which killed 72 people, has been exacerbated by the extraordinary length of time that the investigation has taken. But they can now look forward to a decision about who will face criminal charges. The Crown Prosecution Service has promised that this will be before the 10th anniversary next June.
除非相关个人或机构受到起诉，否则检方不会公布警方档案中列出的20个机构和54名个人的姓名。不过，住房、社区与地方政府部以及肯辛顿和切尔西区议会均已宣布自己名列其中。安吉拉·雷纳周三承诺，无论就可能违反《1974年工作场所健康与安全法》作出何种决定，政府都将全力配合。肯辛顿和切尔西区议会透露，检方正考虑对其提出企业过失杀人罪指控，同时还考虑违反健康与安全法规及消防法规的指控。
The names of the 20 organisations and 54 individuals in the police files will not be released by prosecutors unless they are charged. But the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Kensington and Chelsea council have both announced that they are on the list. Angela Rayner promised on Wednesday that the government would cooperate fully whatever decision is reached regarding a potential breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Kensington and Chelsea council revealed that a charge of corporate manslaughter against it is being considered alongside health and safety and fire regulation breaches.
警方决定先让公开调查完成，再结束自己的调查，这一做法受到批评。一些遇难者家属和幸存者原本更希望刑事司法程序优先进行。不过，公开调查的充分详尽至少意味着，有充分证据支持的违法失责结论已经作出。Arconic、Kingspan和Celotex——三家为该大楼翻修提供材料的供应商——被认定行事不诚实，但这并不意味着公开调查所得结论达到了刑事案件中“证明责任”的标准。建筑事务所Studio E以及两家建筑承包商Rydon和Harley Facades均被指对火灾负有责任。
The police’s decision to let the public inquiry run before concluding their own investigation has been criticised. Some of the bereaved and survivors would have preferred criminal justice to take precedent. But the thoroughness of the inquiry at least means that well-evidenced findings of wrongdoing have already been made. Arconic, Kingspan and Celotex – three suppliers of materials involved in the tower’s refurbishment – were judged to have behaved dishonestly, although this does not mean that the inquiry’s findings were made to a criminal “burden of proof” level. An architecture practice, Studio E, and two building contractors, Rydon and Harley Facades, were each said to bear responsibility for the fire.
Arconic公司还因其极其无耻地拒绝派证人出席调查而受到批判。伦敦警察厅已发出警告，审判不太可能在2028年之前进行，这意味着这段痛苦过程的结束还要等上好几年。由于需要证明管理层在其中扮演了实质性角色的严重疏忽，企业过失杀人案件被普遍认为非常难以判定。政府和司法部门必须尽其所能加快接下来的阶段。
Arconic was also criticised for its disgraceful refusal to send witnesses to the inquiry. The Metropolitan police have warned that trials are unlikely to take place before 2028, meaning that an end to this painful process remains years away. Corporate manslaughter cases are widely recognised as being very difficult due to the need to prove gross negligence with management playing a substantial role. The government and the judiciary must do all they can to expedite the next stages.
除了任何审判之外，“希illsborough法案”（Hillsborough law）最终将规定公职人员必须诚实的义务。无论法庭审判结果如何，部长们还应采取其他措施。鉴于调查对雷顿（Rydon）和圣戈班（Saint-Gobain，赛地乐Celotex的母公司）行为的调查结果，幸存者反对向其授予公共合同的做法是正确的。迄今为止，关于为什么不能以过去表现不佳为由根据《2023年采购法》（Procurement Act 2023）禁止这些公司的解释，是远远不够的。
Beyond any trials, the Hillsborough law will at long last create an obligation on public officials to be truthful. There are other steps that ministers should take, regardless of what happens in court. Survivors are right to object to the public contracts awarded to Rydon and Saint-Gobain (owner of Celotex), given the inquiry’s findings about their conduct. The explanations given so far as to why the Procurement Act 2023 cannot be used to bar them on grounds of poor past performance are not good enough.
政府还应考虑修改法律，以便对伤害人们的公司判处惩罚性赔偿。关于成立一个新的独立机构来监督公共调查和研讯建议落实情况的提议，也值得认真考虑。目前的状况是，多项独立审查虽然被接受却未得到落实，这伤害了那些受格伦费尔（Grenfell）等悲剧影响的人。这也破坏了公众对该系统纠错能力的信任。
The government should also consider changing the law to enable punitive damages to be awarded against companies that harm people. Proposals for a new, independent body to monitor the implementation of recommendations from public inquiries and inquests also deserve serious consideration. The current position, in which multiple independent reviews have been accepted but not implemented, is harmful to those affected by tragedies such as Grenfell. It also undermines public trust in the system’s capacity to put things right.