UK Inquest Law Blog
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No Art 2 duty owed when a person with capacity exposes themselves to danger
Parkin v HM Asst Coroner Inner London (East), and London Borough of Havering and North East London NHS Foundation Trust (interested parties) [2024] EWHC 744 (Admin) (judgment here) (28 March 2024).
In the context of Article 2, the State’s obligation to take appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of citizens is a constantly evolving…
Death after asbestos exposure: Correlation is not causation (again)
By Celia Davies
HM Area Coroner for Cumbria v Leech [2023] EWHC 3476 (Admin)
In the wake of the Wandsworth decision (here) in which the High Court emphasised how correlation is not causation when dealing with a death from mesothelioma, those who read the above judgment from a s.13 application will be forgiven be scratching their…
Advocacy opportunities for junior counsel: Cross-jurisdictional guidance that Coroners should note
A 2021 study from the University of Surrey School of Law looking at gender and seniority of counsel before the UK’s highest court[1] (here) has shown that that women are under-represented as leading advocates, especially in major civil and Business and Property Courts litigation before the Supreme Court. Whilst there are some…
Mere bystanders? Obtaining the criminal records of lay inquest witnesses
Henry Gargan’s and Edward Butler’s Application [2023] NIKB 103 (here)
Although often overshadowed by the Bloody Sunday killings a few weeks earlier, the Springhill killings of 9 July 1972 still stand out as one of the most notorious events during the troubles. The five people shot dead in Belfast that day included three teenagers and a Catholic priest, who was said to…
Are presumptions and burdens of proof relevant in inquests? Insanity and unlawful killing considered
R (Bryan) v HM Assistant Coroner for Buckinghamshire [2024] EWHC (Admin) 26 12 January 2024 (judgment here)
This most tragic of cases concerned the loss of two precious and irreplaceable lives when Ms Redmond put herself in the path of a train whilst holding her three year old daughter.
The inevitable conclusion of suicide in…
Keeping the deceased at the heart of the inquest
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
The Chief Coroner’s speech on the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, delivered on 22 November 2023 and available…
Death Investigation: Coroners and Inquests
A short course for coroners, judges, lawyers and medical professionals
Course director: Peter Thornton , Visiting Professor at King’s College London (the first Chief Coroner of England and Wales)
In person at King’s College London, Strand Campus, Bush House
Tuesdays on the following dates: 20, 27 February and 5,12,19 March 2024.
The course will consist…
Chief Coroner’s Lecture – 10 years post-reform
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…
New press guidance on ‘Reporting on Suicide’
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…