Death and taxes: the past, present and future of the coronial service
 A lecture by the Chief Coroner of England and Wales, HHJ Thomas Teague KC, celebrating 10 years post-reform

22 November 2023 at 5pm – available by remote video link (here)
The office of coroner is known to have existed since at least…

IPSO – Reporting on Suicide: Guidance for journalists and editors   1 November 2023 (here)
Open justice must be a crucial principle in any fair and ethical society.   Fair, accurate and contemporaneous media reporting of court proceedings is to be encouraged, and media reporting of matters stated in open court should only be…

The recommendations arising from the project led by the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC)[1] with support from the Chief Coroner’s Office: ‘ “More than a paper exercise” – Enhancing the impact of Prevention of Future Death Reports’ (here), are to be widely welcomed.  Indeed, it could be seen as…

Forensic Imaging Volume 34, September 2023

This recent journal article ‘Rutty’s Rules”: Baseline guidance to safe postmortem computed tomography. by Prof Guy Rutty

Sets out his ten basic guidance rules to aid develop or run established postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) reporting services.

https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S2666-2256(23)00027-1

Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the

 ORR and Dorris v Secretary of State for Transport [2023] EWCR 1 (judgment here)
This judgment, that was held back until the completion of a criminal trial, highlights again the thorny issue of the disclosure into subsequent legal proceedings of ‘protected material’ that has been collected during an independent Accident Investigation Branch’s (‘AIB’) investigation.…

R(Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service) v Senior Coroner for Pembrokeshire & Carmarthenshire and Marine Accident Investigation Branch [2023] EWHC 1669 (Admin) 12.7.23 (judgment here)
 
The High Court’s Norfolk[1] decision has sat uneasily with some in the coronial law community. Although coroners have a statutory duty to investigate a cause…

R (Maguire) v HM Senior Coroner for Blackpool and Fylde, [2023] UKSC 20 (judgment here)
Anyone who had been holding their breath waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision in Maguire can now breathe out.    Nothing has changed.   The Senior Coroner, the Chief Coroner,[1] a High Court judge, and four Court of Appeal judges…