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The purpose of an inquest which is an official, public enquiry and is presided over by a coroner is to identify the deceased and determine the place and cause of death. An inquest hears witnesses who may be required by law to attend but does not apportion blame for the death and has a limited number of verdicts which include accidental death, misadventure, suicide, open verdict, natural causes and unlawful killing. A witness does not have to be represented by a solicitor and may just turn up at the court and request to be heard which is at the discretion of the coroner. An inquest does not normally take place if a post mortem has explained the cause of death except in the following cases which may be heard with a jury:-

• murder, manslaughter or infanticide
• death in prison
• accident, poisoning or disease
• road traffic accident
• continuing danger to the health or safety of the public

Any person who has a genuine and proper interest in the inquest can give evidence or ask questions of a witness or be legally represented by a solicitor or barrister to do so, at the discretion of the coroner. Those most likely to wish to make enquiries of witnesses include close family and next of kin, personal representatives of the estate of the deceased, representatives of the place where the deceased was resident at the time of death which may include a prison, hospital or other institution, the person(s) who may have caused the death and insurance companies who may have a financial interest in the outcome of the inquest, all of whom may wish to be represented by a solicitor. In addition, if the death occurred due to an accident at work there may be others with a proper interest in the outcome of the inquest including trade unions, the employer, the Health & Safety Executive and others at the coroners discretion, who may also be reprsented by a lawyer.

Our specialist personal injury solicitors and specialist medical negligence lawyers are often called upon to represent the family of the deceased at a coroner’s inquest. The outcome of an inquest can have grave financial consequences for next of kin especially if a verdict of the coroner’s court is suicide rather than accidental death. A family do not require legal representation on their behalf but sometimes if a legal action is being taken as a result of the death, the family may be well advised to engage legal representation to attend an inquest. If you would like advice from a qualified solicitor with experience in health and safety law, police and prison law, medical negligence and marine and aviation law, on the legal implications of an inquest or if you feel that you need to be represented by a specialist solicitor in the coroners court just contact our offices for free legal advice without further obligation.

copyright 1999