They are there to see that Justice is Done.

The following comes from an episode of The Games:

John: "Who are the other side?"
Dennis: "When I say 'the other side' I mean the people running the inquiry."
"Who are they?"
"There's a chairman and a barrister who's called Counsel Assisting."
"And who employs these people?"
"Well, they're employed by the legal process. They're there to see that justice is done. That is their duty, that is their sacred trust, and that supervenes any and all other responsibilities in their mind."
"Yeah. They're employed by the government, aren't they?"
"They're indipendent people, chosen for their jurisprudential and evidential skills in areas deemed most useful for determinations of this kind."
"Are they paid for their services, these people?"
"Oh, some moiety may inhere in work of this type, of some kind, yes."
"And who pays them?"
"The question of emoluments would rest with the state in this instance."
"Yeah, they're paid for by the government."
"Yes."
"The government the Mininster's a minister in."
"Well, the enquiry will have quite clear guidelines."
"And who writes the guidelines?"
"They'll be prepared by the Attorney General."
"Yeah, another minister. So the government's going to hold an inquiry into its own activities, supervised by itself and run under conditions jacked up by the Attorney General. It's no wonder they want a bit of fresh blood in there, is it?"

Sound familiar?