Coronial process ‘alienating’

Under the report’s recommendations, the coronial process would include forums for ‘restorative dialogue between the bereaved and professionals who had some involvement in the death’.

Compiled by researchers from Birkbeck and Bath universities between May 2021 and May 2024, the report, ‘Voicing loss’, examined the role of bereaved people in coroners’ investigations and inquests, and is the largest ever empirical study of lay and professional experiences of the coronial process in England and Wales.

While one bereaved interviewee described the process as ‘dignified’ and ‘transformational’, many others highlighted a lack of sensitivity in how professionals spoke about the deceased and dealt with evidence. The report states: ‘They also spoke of feeling alienated by proceedings which seemed to be oriented around legal professionals rather than their own rights, needs and expectations.

‘Some bereaved people (as well as other witnesses) described being subjected to aggressive or belittling questioning.’

The report recommends that bereaved people be given as much notice and information as possible about dates, attendance of witnesses and legal representatives and whether they will be required to give evidence. It advises that bereaved people be ‘fully informed of their right to receive evidence in advance of the final hearing, and how to obtain it’.

Respondents typically reported that they received limited information about their status and potential role in the process, and that communication with the local coroner service was poor.

One bereaved mother said: ‘We didn’t know we could have [legal representation]. We didn’t know, really, what our rights were, what we could have. Nobody told us.’

A bereaved sister said they would have gone into the inquest ‘blindly, with no legal support’, if it hadn’t been for the help of the organisation INQUEST.