Chief Coroner Guidance

Further to recent blogs on the subject of what a post pandemic inquiry could look like it is interesting to see that the Chief Coroner has issued guidance to coroners on holding inquests as a result of Covid-19 deaths (in England and Wales).  This was helpfully posted on Linkedin in the Inquests and Inquiries Group and is a reminder to me that Linkedin can be useful (but see my rantings on other and furture blogs!).

The Guidance to coroners is clear and well written - even when read by laymen like me. The fact that it is published and can be accessed by the general public is something to be celebrated.  The coronial system has come a long way in the last 20 years.

Although the decision on whether or not to hold an inquest will be down to individual coroners we are unlikely to see large numbers of inquests attempting to inquire into consequences of inadequate PPE provision.  But there will be some and the situation in Scotland, where the rules around Fatal Accident Inquiries are different, is still unclear.

As the Chief Coroner makes clear, using case law to support the point, inquests are not the best forum for examining matters of national policy.  All the more reason to support calls for a public inquiry.


https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Chief-Coroners-Guidance-No-37-28.04.20.pdf

 


Philip Trendall
29th April 2020

admin@scott-trendall.co.uk

Scott Trendall Ltd is a small consultancy and training provider.  The opinions expressed in this blog do not represent the views of  any clients of the company.

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