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 Work at INQUEST

There are currently no positions vacant at INQUEST.

More information
 Inquest training course in Manchester

A lawyers' guide to conducting inquests on behalf of bereaved families or vulnerable witnesses

INQUEST and Garden Court North ran a training course for lawyers on inquests in Manchester on 15 May 2009.

More information and online booking
 Reform of the inquest system
INQUEST has campaigned for over 25 years to have the archaic coroner's inquest system reformed. The government included a Coroners and Justice Bill in the Queen's Speech in December 2008. INQUEST hopes that the bill will enable urgent action to be taken to tackle the crisis in the inquest system.
More on our work on coroners reform
INQUEST welcomes Coroners and Justice Bill
INQUEST's briefing on the need for a Coroners
    & Death Certification Bill November 2008
    (PDF, 24KB)
 Unlocking Democracy

Unlock Democracy has published a book to mark its twentieth anniversary of Charter 88, Unlocking Democracy. It includes essay on deaths in custody by INQUEST's Co-Directors, alongside other pieces on the subject of rights and freedoms from a variety of high-profile authors, including noted human rights campaigners as well as the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.

Read more about Unlocking Democracy
 Human Rights Award 2007
INQUEST was announced on 10 December 2007 as joint winner of the Human Rights Award alongside Kids Company. The award was in recognition of the organisation's "high-quality specialist casework [on deaths in custody] and ... commitment to providing incontrovertible evidence of the serious human rights abuses of children in custody". The Human Rights Awards are held by Liberty and JUSTICE to commemorate Human Rights Day.
Click for more on the Human Rights Awards
 End child deaths in custody

INQUEST is calling for a public inquiry into the death of 16-year-old Joseph Scholes and the deaths of 29 other children while in the care of the state since 1990. A leaflet entitled Why Are Children Dying In Custody? gives a detailed background on the call for an inquiry.

Download Why Are Children Dying In Custody?     ( PDF, 52KB)
INQUEST's further evidence to the parliamentary
   Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry
   into the restraint of children
 ( PDF, 29KB)
INQUEST briefing on the restraint of children
   and SI 2007 No 1709 regarding changes to the
   Secure Training Centre Rules
 ( PDF, 33KB)
Coroner's rule 43 report to the Secretary of State
    for Justice on the death of Gareth Myatt ( PDF,
    60KB)
Read more about the case for a public inquiry
 Events and campaigns

INQUEST is involved on a regular basis with conferences and other events. We are supporters of several campaigns around issues such as the use of ASBOs and penal custody for children.

INQUEST also supports family campaigns for justice set up by bereaved people whose friends or relatives have died in controversial circumstances.

More information on events and campaigns
Family campaigns page
 Pauline Campbell

Prison reform campaigner and long-term supporter of INQUEST Pauline Campbell was found dead on 15 May 2008 by the grave of her daughter Sarah who died in January 2003 in HMP Styal.

INQUEST's tribute to Pauline Campbell
Statement on the death of Pauline Campbell
 (PDF, 349KB)
 Gilly Mundy, senior caseworker

INQUEST's senior caseworker Gilly Mundy died two days after suffering a stroke on the morning of 15 March 2007. We at INQUEST, his wife, family and friends are devastated. Gilly was as generous in death as in life and his organs were donated to enable others to live. Hundreds of people attended his funeral, which took place on 27 March in Leamington Spa. A fund has been set up in his memory and donations can be made care of the INQUEST office, with cheques made payable to the Gilly Mundy Memorial Fund.

An Evening with Gilly Mundy took place on Saturday 14 July 2007 at Rich Mix. The event featured contributions from Gilly's family and many friends and marked a moving celebration of his life and work.

The inaugural Gilly Mundy Memorial Debate was held on 23 April 2008 at SOAS in London and was well attended by 250 people. Organised in Gilly's memory by the Newham Monitoring Project, the subject for discussion at the first event was the issue of racism in Britain.

Guardian obituary ( PDF, 26KB)
Newham Monitoring Project
 
 Do you need help?
Photo of an Information PackIf you are a bereaved family looking for advice and support, please click on the link below for help and advice.

INQUEST has an Information Pack which provides information to families and those acting in an advisory role.
Help and advice
Read the Information Pack ( PDF, 787KB)
Please give us your feedback
 Dying on the Inside

INQUEST's book Dying on the Inside: Examining Women's Deaths in Prison provides a comprehensive examination of INQUEST's casework on women's deaths in prison from 1990 - 2007.

Written by INQUEST Co-director Deborah Coles and Marissa Sandler, Dying on the Inside is available to buy online from the link below.

" ...a clearly argued plea for change from an organisation with decades of experience of what happens when things go wrong. Stephen CraggDoughty Street Chambers writing in The  Times

More about Dying on the Inside
 Unlocking the Truth

INQUEST's powerful book Unlocking the Truth: Families’ Experiences of the Investigation of Deaths in Custody describes the experiences of families bereaved by deaths in custody from the time of death to the conclusion of the investigation and inquest.

"The voices of the families and their accounts are powerful arguments that reform is needed." The Guardian, 3 October 2007

More about Unlocking the Truth
 In the Care of the State?

Professor Barry Goldson and Deborah Coles' groundbreaking book In the Care of the State? examines child deaths in penal custody in England and Wales.

This is a splendid book… and I entirely endorse the recommendations made
Lord David Ramsbotham, former Chief Inspector of Prisons
"This is not a comfortable read but an important one for all youth panel members and others taking decisions about offending children
."
Magistrate magazine, May 2006
"...an interesting, thought provoking book that addresses an important and hitherto little explored issue."
Professor Gill McIvor in Youth Justice

More about In The Care Of The State?
Reaction to the book
List of Child Deaths in Penal Custody ( PDF)
 INQUEST's other recent publications

INQUEST's e-newsletter provides an overview of our key campaigns, casework and concerns. We have also published a set of briefing papers on cases and policy issues, and INQUEST's 2006 Annual Report is available to download.

INQUEST's briefing on amending RIPA for the
   Counter Terrorism Bill in the Commons,
    November 2008 (PDF, 110KB)
INQUEST's briefing on amending RIPA for report
   stage of Counter Terrorism Bill November 2008
    (PDF, 77KB)
INQUEST's briefing on the need for a Coroners
    & Death Certification Bill November 2008
    (PDF, 24KB)
INQUEST's Response To IPCC Stock Take
    Consultation October 2008 (PDF, 41KB)
INQUEST's parliamentary briefing on Counter
    Terrorism Bill committee stage in House of
    Commons  ( PDF, 142KB)
Parliamentary briefing on proposals for "secret"
   inquests in the Counter Terrorism Bill 2008
   
( PDF, 134KB)
 
 

 Many of INQUEST's publications and all of our press releases since 1996 are available for free download as PDFs, making a valuable resource for the media, academics, students, and those with an interest in the human rights issues our casework raises.

If you regularly access the INQUEST website for information, please consider joining us as a supporter, or giving a one-off donation to contribute to our work.

   
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