Inquest

The deceased died after ingesting a radioactive isotope. His wife and children, and UK and Russian government bodies were accorded the status of properly interested persons (the PIPs) in the defendant coroner’s inquest. The secretary of state sought judicial review of part of the coroner’s decision which rejected his claim for public interest immunity over documents. The issue for determination was whether the PIPs should be interested parties in the judicial review. The court held that, although the PIPs were interested parties under CPR Pt 54, there were cogent reasons for not adding them as interested parties in the judicial review proceedings. It was an established principle that an inquest was a fact-finding exercise and there were no parties, there was no indictment, there was no prosecution, there was no defence, there was no trial, simply an attempt to establish the facts. It was an inquisitorial process. Further, that a person was