Part 2: The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) Reviews of deaths and other harmful conduct Section 16: Consultation on reports
This section imposes obligations on the Chief Commissioner to consult various individuals before a report containing the findings of a review can be finalised. Subsection (1) imposes an obligation on the Chief Commissioner to share a copy of a draft of the report with the person who requested it (where applicable), and to allow that person to make representations during the applicable response period (this is a period of 30 days beginning with the date on which the draft is shared, extendable by the Chief Commissioner if there is good reason – see the relevant definition in subsection (11)).
	Subsection (2) applies where the review is of a death, following a request under section 9 or where the review was initiated by the ICRIR under section 12(2)and requires the Chief Commissioner to share the draft report with any relevant family members of the person to whose death the review relates; any relevant family members of any other persons killed in the relevant event; any person who suffered serious physical or mental harm in the relevant event or, where such a person has subsequently died, any relevant family members of the person. "Relevant family member" has the meaning given by Part 2 of Schedule 3 (see subsection (11)). Where a draft report is shared with a person under this subsection, they are to be allowed to make representations about the report during the applicable response period.
	Subsection (3) makes similar provision to subsection (2), but in relation to reviews of other harmful conduct carried out following a request under section 10, or where the review was initiated by the ICRIR under section 12(3).
	Subsections (4) and (5) impose, respectively, consultation requirements in respect of any review, where the Chief Commissioner is proposing to include in the final report material criticising a living individual or a public authority. These terms are defined in subsection (11). Where these duties arise, the Chief Commissioner is required to share a copy of the relevant critical material with the individual or public authority concerned, and to allow that individual or public authority to make representations within the applicable response period.
	Subsection (6) provides that the Chief Commissioner must not produce the final report until after any applicable response period has ended or, where two or more persons are consulted and the applicable response periods end on different days, after all of those periods have ended.
	Under subsection (7), the Chief Commissioner may exclude material included in the draft of the report from the final report if they consider it would not be in the public interest for that material to appear in the final report. If the Chief Commissioner considered that the draft report contained material which fell to be excluded under this subsection, that would not prevent the Chief Commissioner from making consequential changes to the draft, for example if there was a way of rephrasing the material in a way which did not offend the public interest.
	In deciding whether to exclude material under subsection (7), the Chief Commissioner must take account of any representations made in accordance with the provisions of this section (defined as the "consultation provisions" in subsection (11)).
	Subsection (9) provides that where the Chief Commissioner has consulted a person under this section, this Chief Commissioner is not required to provide that person with a revised draft. Subsection (10) clarifies that where the Chief Commissioner is required to share a draft of the final report with two or more persons under this section, they need not all be provided with exactly the same draft.
	Subsection (11) defines, among others, the terms "applicable response period", "relevant family member", "material criticising an individual" and "relevant event".