大象传媒

Former High Court judge Baroness Hallett is no stranger to a high-profile case, having previously chaired an inquiry into the 2005 London terror attacks. But her most recent appointment as chair of an inquiry looking at the UK's response to the pandemic could be her biggest job to date.

In the past few weeks she鈥檚 been stuck in a legal battle with the Government after refusing to withdraw her order for them to hand over unredacted material for her investigation.

The first female Chair of the Bar Council, Baroness Hallett didn鈥檛 come from the usual privilege associated with the top tier of the legal profession. She grew up as the daughter of a policeman and a secretary, moving around a lot in her childhood and going to various state schools before getting a place at Oxford where she went on to specialise in criminal law.

Mark Coles speaks to friends and peers about her extraordinary legal career and why she will not sway over Government demands when the COVID inquiry starts next week.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Georgia Coan, Octavia Woodward and Samantha Haque
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar