Coroners & Inquests – Providing input to the Coroner

Adam Smith

Partner & LEAD CONTACT

• London
• Regulatory, Crime, Inquests, Police Defence
• a.smith@hempsons.co.uk
• 020 7484 7629

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Within the Regulatory & Crime Team, when it comes to inquests, we specialise in representing individuals (medical/healthcare practitioners and others). We have genuine expertise in the field, gained over many years of assisting individual clients (and private healthcare organisations) with inquests and requests from the Coroner for input. One of the team’s inquest lawyers also sits part-time as an Assistant Coroner. 

If you are an individual and have been contacted by the Coroner’s office seeking your input, the inquest lawyers in our Regulatory & Crime team are experts at helping you through each stage of the process. 

What do Coroners do?

The Coroner has a duty to investigate violent and unnatural deaths, deaths where the cause of death is not known and deaths which took place whilst a person was being detained by the State (which includes detention for reasons of mental health). Coroners have powers to require disclosure of documents, provision of statements and to summons individuals to attend inquests to give evidence. They have powers to impose significant penalties for failures to comply.

Although the law precludes a Coroner from framing a determination in such a way as to appear to determine issues of criminal liability by a named individual or civil liability, nonetheless Coroners’ determinations are regularly critical and frequently identify failings in the care or treatment the deceased received leading up to their death. It is therefore crucial to receive expert legal advice before responding to a request from the Coroner for a statement.

It may be similarly important to be represented at the Inquest as an “Interested Person”, in order to have the opportunity to make submissions to the Coroner and to have some influence over the outcome and seek to avoid adverse findings (such as of “neglect”) and conclusions. 

In Hempsons’ Regulatory & Crime team, our lawyers not only work on inquests, but are specialists at advising individuals who face investigations by their regulator (GMC, NMC, HCPC etc), criminal investigations by the police, and disciplinary investigations by NHS and private healthcare employers, meaning we are uniquely placed to advise you regarding a Coroner’s investigation mindful of the potential ramifications in other contexts. For example, we have in the past advised and represented an individual surgeon who faced police interviews as part of a gross negligence manslaughter investigation, GMC Fitness to Practise proceedings, attendance at a lengthy inquest as an Interested Person and to give evidence, civil proceedings for compensation and disciplinary issues at the NHS and private hospitals where he worked.  All of this arose from a single operation during which the patient had sadly died and we were able to provide a holistic approach and advise him in each of these proceedings. 

What input might the Coroner seek and how can we help?

Our team’s inquest lawyers can advise and assist you regarding all aspects of the Inquest process, including providing representation at hearings where that is needed. 

Providing a statement

If you are asked to provide a statement to the Coroner, such a statement may ultimately be considered in other contexts and hence its content is vitally important, both in terms of what it includes but also what it does not include (mindful of the scope of the Inquest). We can help with drafting your statement in the appropriate format for the Coroner whilst protecting your interests as best as possible. 

The Coroner may choose to read a statement rather than call the person to give evidence at the Inquest, so providing a good statement may mean you can avoid the stress and pressure of attendance. 

Interested Person Status

In some cases, provision of a statement will be the limit of your involvement in the Inquest process. However, in others, the Coroner may make you an “Interested Person”, meaning that, beyond potentially giving evidence at the Inquest, you will be able to participate in the process by receiving all of the evidence in advance of the hearing, being represented and asking questions of other witnesses at the Inquest and making submissions to the Coroner before they reach a conclusion. 

The Coroner must grant Interested Person status to certain people, including a person who may be deemed to have caused or contributed to the death, and ultimately the Coroner has a discretion to make any person an Interested Person. 

In some Inquests you may feel vulnerable to criticism, or there may be other reasons why you would wish to participate in the Inquest process as an “Interested Person”. There are various tactical considerations to bear in mind and our team’s inquest lawyers will advise you on those, again mindful of any ongoing or potential proceedings elsewhere. We can also draft any application to the Coroner for Interested Person status. 

Pre-Inquest Review Hearings (PIRs)

In some cases, the Coroner will hold a PIR, where matters such as Interested Person status, witnesses, documents and other legal or procedural matters are considered. We can provide representation for you at a PIR to ensure that your voice is heard in these matters, where appropriate. 

The Inquest Hearing

Some inquests are brief, whilst others can be complex, lengthy hearings. In some circumstances inquests are heard by the Coroner with a jury. All inquests are sensitive and sometimes emotive proceedings, especially for the family of the deceased. 

If you are required to attend the Inquest to give evidence, we can help you prepare for this, so that you can give your evidence as smoothly and positively as possible. 

Where you have been made an Interested Person, our team’s inquest lawyers can provide representation for you at the Inquest hearing, either through their own attendance or through our relationships with various similarly expert inquest barristers. Our aim in representing you as an Interested Person at an Inquest will be to protect your interests insofar as possible, help you through the Inquest and seek to avoid, or at least minimise, any criticism which the Coroner may be minded to make.

Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD)

Where a Coroner’s investigation, including the Inquest, reveals anything that gives rise to concern on the part of the Coroner that there is a risk of other deaths occurring in the future, the Coroner is obliged to produce a report known as a “Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report. Such a report is sent to whoever the Coroner feels has the power to take action to eliminate or minimise the risk of future deaths.  There is a statutory obligation to reply to any PFD report received within 56 days.  All PFD reports and replies are uploaded to the website of the Chief Coroner.

Often, the Coroner will seek “PFD evidence” towards the end of an Inquest. Individuals and organisations will, generally speaking, prefer to avoid receiving a “PFD report” if possible and the provision of robust PFD evidence is sometimes an opportunity to achieve this.  Our team’s inquest lawyers can assist you in preparing PFD evidence, which can often be extensive, and in drafting a response to a PFD report. 

In summary, Coroner’s inquests and investigations are a unique form of proceedings, neither civil nor criminal, which can be emotive, high profile and have potentially significant ramifications for you in respect of other, related proceedings (such as before your regulator, civil or criminal proceedings).

The inquest lawyers within our Regulatory and Crime team specialise in representing individuals in these various types of proceedings, and are committed to assisting you through the inquest process with an expert understanding of it and its potential consequences for you. 

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