A matter of life & death

Approaching half a million people die every year in the UK and the consequences of their death affect several times that number. Naturally, those affected by this brush with mortality often want to know how their spouse, partner, friend or relative died.

In its wisdom, the state helps answer this question through the medium of a coroner, employed by the local authority, who potentially holds office for life and dates her origins to about 1194 AD. This unusual character is neither Quincey nor Amanda Burton, cutting up bodies or getting too close to the grieving family. She is an over-burdened, often under-resourced judicial office holder who must certify death, conduct a fearless investigation into the facts, hold inquests, summon juries, navigate the complexities of a body of law where cases from Victorian times are cited, and face review in the administrative court. Coroners must do all these things without any official training.

Luckily, things are improving both for coroners and the bereaved.