Will there be any private place to wait at the inquest?
The facilities in coroner’s courts vary enormously. Unfortunately there is not always a private place for friends and family to wait or to talk with their legal representatives. Some coroner’s courts (or where a town hall or county court is used) have waiting and/or interview rooms and some coroners may consider making one available for the family and their lawyers, especially if the inquest is going to take some time. Ask the coroner’s officer if you would like this to happen or ask your solicitor to do this for you. At other courts this is not the case and you need to be prepared for having to wait in the same place as the people involved in the death, which can obviously be very distressing.
What should I wear and bring with me to the inquest?
You should wear clothes you feel comfortable in. The coroner, lawyers and witnesses will be dressed formally, but do not feel you have to do the same. Lots of families like to bring a photograph of their loved one to the inquest and sometimes a coroner will allow a photograph to be shown to the jury.
Will my expenses be paid?
If you are called to give evidence you may be paid some expenses for having to miss work to come to the inquest and also travelling expenses. This will only apply if you have been summoned to give evidence. If your relative died in prison, the Prison Service may agree to contribute to your expenses for attending, but this does not always happen. You should raise this with the coroner’s office and/or your solicitor.
Who has the right to attend?
Anyone – an inquest is a public hearing. You may want to bring a friend or family members to support you during the inquest. Some coroner’s courts and other venues where inquests are held are very small and so this limits the number of people who can attend.
How long will the inquest take?
This can vary significantly depending on the individual circumstances and the approach of the coroner. Many inquests last for just a few hours, sometimes less. However, if the person died in more complicated circumstances, particularly in article 2 cases (e.g. when someone has died in prison), an inquest can take days or even weeks.
Will the press and public be there?
Because an inquest is a hearing in public, the press may attend and report on what has happened. Some families want there to be press attention, but some do not. You cannot stop the press from writing about the hearing, but they do have a code of ethics and should be sensitive to grieving families. If you want to know more about this or make a complaint about the press there is more on the website of the Press Complaints Commission: (see also Section 7 on dealing with the media).
Can I leave the court if I want to during the inquest?
Yes, you can leave whenever you want (apart from if you are giving evidence at the time) and come back whenever you like. If you feel upset or angry with any of the evidence you may want to have a break or leave altogether. If you choose to do so, you should leave quietly. Coroners are used to people coming in and out of the court. Some coroners will mention in open court when post-mortem evidence or other distressing evidence is coming up to allow you the opportunity to leave if you want to.
Will anything personal and private be said at the inquest about my friend or relative and their family?
The inquest is there to inquire into the circumstances of the death, and there may be evidence that the coroner considers relevant to the investigation that reveals private information about the person. If there are things which you do not think are relevant to the inquest, you can ask that they are not made public. The coroner will make the final decision about this. Some coroners will be sympathetic and sensitive to your concerns, but others may be less understanding. However sympathetic the coroner is, they may feel that they have no choice but to reveal information if they think it is relevant to the death.
Will a ‘suicide note’ be read out during the inquest?
You should have already been told of any final letter or note sometimes known as the ‘suicide note’ and given a chance to read it before the inquest. It is unusual for a suicide note to be read out in full, but the coroner or others may quote from it if they think it is important in explaining what happened.
What will happen at the inquest?
An inquest is not like a criminal trial. It is meant to find out facts, not to establish blame. Inquests are not supposed to be adversarial like criminal trials. The coroner and any legal representatives should treat witnesses, especially the bereaved, with care and respect, but this will depend on their experience and sensitivity.
The coroner will begin the inquest and if there is a jury its members will be required to take an oath. The coroner will explain to them what their duties are and that they are there to establish the answer to the questions: who the person was; where they died; when they died; and how they came by their death. The coroner will also usually explain two important Coroners Rules (r36 and r42) that the inquest is not held to establish any criminal or civil liability, that it cannot blame individuals for the death, and that the coroner and/or the jury must not name anyone in delivering their verdict.
Evidence
The coroner will then call the witnesses. If a family member is giving evidence they will usually do so first. The coroner will normally begin by questioning the witnesses and talking them through the statement they have made. There will then be the opportunity for you or your legal representative as well as barristers representing any interested person to question the witnesses. If the witness is your witness (either yourself, another family member, a pathologist you employed or another expert) your barrister will usually be the last to ask questions. If you do not have a legal representative the coroner may decide to ask any questions you have on your behalf. The jury are also allowed to ask questions.
Sometimes witnesses will not actually attend the inquest, but their statements will be read out by the coroner. If you think it is important for a particular witness to attend to give their evidence in person, then you must make sure the coroner knows this in advance of the hearing. In the end, it is the coroner’s decision who will give evidence.
In some cases, the coroner will warn the witnesses that they do not have to answer questions if they feel their answer might incriminate them in a criminal offence.
Summing up
After all the witnesses have been questioned, the coroner sums up the evidence. Your barrister and any other legal representative do not have the right to sum up the evidence as they see it. Because there is no right to sum up, it is very important to ask the right questions during the inquest so that the jury (if there is one) understands what your concerns are. This is one of the reasons why it helps to have a barrister or solicitor representing you.
After the summing up, the coroner or jury will give their verdict. If there is a jury, the coroner must explain to them which verdicts they can consider based on the evidence that has been heard. Your barrister and any legal representatives for other properly interested persons may ask to address the coroner on the law in relation to possible verdicts. The jury will be asked to leave the court until the legal submissions have been made. The coroner will then address the court on the verdict, or if there is a jury they will retire and consider their verdict (see Section 4.3: Verdicts).
It is vital to understand that the inquest is not like an ordinary court of law. The coroner is prohibited from deciding any issues of civil or criminal liability on the part of a named individual. The inquest is purely a fact-finding hearing.
