This paper aims to provide an overview of the legal processes and outcomes which have followed in the wake of Britain’s worst sporting disaster. It begins with a brief outline of the day of the disaster and a summary of the legal processes which have followed over the last ten years. A detailed report follows of the first major legal investigation, the Lord Justice Taylor Public Inquiry, with a focus on the Interim Report of the events and causes of the disaster, locating the material within the first five of the phases of a disaster theorised by Scraton et al 1995. This is followed by a report on the outcomes of any criminal liability for statutory duties or reckless manslaughter and an overview of the inquests. The civil claims for death are followed by precedent setting eases for post-traumatic stress disorder from both families of the disaster victims and police officers who had worked at Hillsborough. Other legal processes include the landmark House of Lords judgement which allowed the 96th victim of Hillsborough to be allowed to die, the lack of any disciplinary charges against any police officer, the issues around press and media coverage and the Scrutiny of Evidence related to Hillsborough which reported in 1998.The paper concludes with a summary of the outcomes and issues raised by such legal process. This material is part of a Socio-legal Phd thesis, analysing the Hillsborough and Marchioness disasters (in sport and leisure) conducted by the researcher, using document analysis and interviews. Within the word limit of this article, it was only possible to briefly report the outcomes of the legal processes of this complex and controversial disaster but reference is made where possible, to sources of critical commentary.
