This paper calls for deeper research on company-commissioned independent inquiries (CCIIs). Over the past 10 years, CCIIs have been occasionally used to respond to complex stakeholder issues in the context of resource extraction. These are typically high-stakes environments: there is a need to make good decisions in a complex situation, where the available facts are contested, and where human rights risks are present. Our preliminary review suggests that there is much to understand about these innovative processes from the perspective of conflict management, community relations and organisational learning. This paper considers seven international CCIIs commissioned by global mining companies and describes them - both in terms of the methodologies used and the resulting outcomes. Perspectives from across the stakeholder spectrum are required to understand what principles, methodologies or conditions could have contributed to better outcomes for the parties involved. Ensuring that principles can be applied in different contexts, across a range of issues, is pivotal to these inquiry processes being activated with integrity.

Publisher: Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining

Region: Australia

Type: Occasional Paper

CITATION

Kemp, D., Owen, J.R., and S. Johnston (2018). Company-commissioned independent inquiries: A case for applied research. Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland: Brisbane.

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Company-commissioned independent inquiries in the mining sector: a preliminary paper and a case for applied research
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Company-commissioned independent inquiries in the mining sector: a preliminary paper and a case for applied research