Inquest Hearings

Introduction

An inquest is a Court hearing that is intended to answer four statutory questions:

• Who was the deceased?
• When did they die?
• Where did they die?
• How did their death come about?

An inquest is not a trial and it does not seek to apportion any criminal blame or civil liability.

An inquest is a fact finding enquiry that simply aims to gather information to allow the Coroner to answer these four questions.

Types of hearing

There are 3 types of inquest:

• Jury Inquest – A complex case where a jury is required, together with witnesses, legal representation for Interested Persons.
• Inquest – Is where witnesses are required to attend to present their evidence and have questions asked of them.
• Read Inquest – No witnesses are required to attend and the coroner will sit alone. The coroner reads aloud relevant selections of evidence. The inquest duration can be quite short and the coroner will hear a number of cases in succession.

You may  be called to a Pre-Inquest Review. A Pre-Inquest Review (PIR) is a hearing that can be attended by Interested persons. The Coroner will not require witnesses to attend, as the hearing does not consider any evidence.

A Pre-Inquest Review will usually be held if there are particular issues of law or procedure that need to be determined by the Coroner before the final inquest. And so a Pre-Inquest Review is very much a case management or administrative hearing.

Inquest hearings are open to members of the public and the press to attend. You are welcome to be seated in the public gallery in Court on a first-come first-served basis.

If you are planning to attend an Inquest listed below, could you please either phone 01823 359271 or email  coroner@somerset.gov.uk. It helps to have an indication of attendance in advance to make sure that we continue to comply with fire regulations and health and safety matters which apply to the court building.

Prior contact does not ‘reserve’ a seat and attendance is purely down to physical attendance on the day.

Inquest opening hearings

Taunton = Old Municipal Buildings, Corporation Street, Taunton TA1 4AQ
Wells = Wells Town Hall, Market Square, Wells, BA5 2RB

Inquests listed for final hearing

Taunton = Old Municipal Buildings, Corporation Street, Taunton TA1 4AQ
Wells = Wells Town Hall, Market Square, Wells, BA5 2RB

What happens

During the Inquest hearing itself the Coroner will hear the evidence and, at the end of the Inquest, the Coroner will give their conclusion. All of the findings made by the Coroner are based on the evidence that they have heard and are on the basis of what is more likely to have happened than not. This is known as ‘on the balance of probabilities’.

This is the same standard of proof that is used in the civil courts, and so is lower than that used in criminal courts – where the Judge must be satisfied ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.

At the end of the Inquest the Coroner will complete the Record of Inquest. This is a publicly available document and contains answers to the four statutory questions.

In most cases the Coroner will sit alone but sometimes the Coroner will be required to sit with a jury.

Interested person

There is a statutory list of who is considered to be an interested person, but generally speaking interested persons are:

• Family of the deceased
• Anyone whose acts or omissions may have caused or contributed to the death

Interested persons are entitled to disclosure of the evidence to be heard at inquest and can attend the inquest and ask questions of the witnesses.

Remote attendance and inquests in writing

An Inquest and any related hearings (such as pre-inquest reviews, suspensions and adjournments) are held in open court, unless notification is given that the Inquest will be ‘in Writing’.

Interested Persons – Witnesses – Advocates

Interested persons, witnesses and advocates should attend the inquest and any related hearings in person. They should be present physically in Court.

If you are an ‘interested person’, witness or advocate and you wish to attend the hearing remotely then you must:

• Email a written application to the Coroner: coroner@somerset.gov.uk
• The application must be made at the earliest possible opportunity, but no later than 10 clear working days before the listed hearing.
• The application should clearly set out the reasons why you are unable to attend in person and why remote access should be given.

On receipt of an application within the time limits stated above, the Coroner will:

• Seek the views of the interested persons and any advocates.
• Deliver a ruling on the application.
• If the application is granted and the matter is listed in a Court that has facilities for remote attendance, then the remote link will be made available to you by court staff.

The Coroner will be more likely to permit remote attendance where:

• Remote attendance would improve the quality of the evidence given.
• Remote attendance would allow the inquest to proceed more expediently.
• Remote attendance is the only way to enable participation (that is, the applicant has emigrated and now lives abroad).
• There is the capacity and technological capability to enable remote attendance at that particular hearing.
• Allowing remote attendance would not create an unreasonable administrative burden.

In reaching a decision the coroner will also consider:

• Whether remote attendance will impede the questioning of a witness.
• The balance to be struck between the interests of justice and the interests of those attending the hearing.

Press and members of the public

From 28 June 2022 it became lawful for members of the public and the press to join hearings remotely. Should you wish to make an application then you must:

• Make a written application to the Coroner using this email address: coroner@somerset.gov.uk
• The application must be made at the earliest possible opportunity, but no later than 10 clear working days before the listed hearing.
• The application should clearly set out the reasons why you should be granted remote access.

General advice concerning remote access

Please note that there is currently only one Courtroom in Taunton that allows for the use of remote access. The Coroner also has potential access to a second Courtroom in Wells but this is only used for Jury cases and larger inquests by prior agreement. There is sufficient room in the Court to physically accommodate members of the public and press, within reason.

As such, we recommend that anyone wanting to attend an Inquest hearing does not rely on remote access being available.

Where remote access is permitted, a link to access the proceedings will be sent by email, along with a set of guidelines for conduct. Please familiarise yourself with these in advance.

Jury Service

When a Coroner hears an Inquest, they will normally sit alone. However, in certain circumstances the Coroner may be required to sit with a Jury. This is made of between seven and eleven randomly selected members of the public who will act as the ‘judges of fact’ in the particular case. They will be under the legal direction of the Coroner and it will be they, rather than the Coroner, who reach and return the Conclusion at the end of the Inquest.

Potential jury members are screened for any matters within their personal circumstances which may compromise their ability to remain impartial. If the Coroner believes that they may not be able to remain true to their oath to diligently enquire into the death of the deceased, the Coroner can choose to discharge a particular juror from the selection pool before the Inquest starts. It may also become necessary to discharge a juror part way through an Inquest, but this decision is not taken lightly.

An Inquest is not a trial. It is an inquisitorial process rather than an adversarial one. The purpose of any Inquest is not to determine any civil or criminal blame or liability, and so no one is on trial.

If you are called to be part of a jury – if you receive a Jury Summons

Once you have been selected, you will be notified in writing that you are required to attend the Court and sit as a juror. You will then be sent a set of instructions as to what you will need to do, along with a form that you must return to the Court. You can contact the Somerset Coroner’s office if you have any questions when you receive the instructions and the form.

If you are employed, you will need to let your employer know that you will not be able to attend work during the days on which you are sitting as a juror. You will need to make sure that your employer will pay you in your absence from work, as the Court will not pay you for completing your jury service. However, in cases where your employer is unwilling to pay you, you can make a claim for loss of earnings as a result of being absent from work. This arrangement also applies if you are self-employed. There are limits as to the amount that you can be paid and these are set out in law. For more information, you can look at the jury service page of the GOV.UK website.

As a serving juror then you will also be given a daily allowance to cover food and drink. In certain circumstances then you may also be able to claim travel expenses. Please visit the jury service page of GOV.UK for more about these expenses.

What happens if you want to delay your jury service

In exceptional circumstances (such as having a pre-booked holiday, which you will need to provide documentary evidence of) then the Coroner may allow you to postpone your jury service. You will not be allowed more than one postponement.

If you think that you are unable to carry out jury service for the dates that you have been called for and you wish to make an application to postpone it, then you should contact the Coroner’s Office as soon as possible, setting out your full reasons and sending in any proof of your reason for non-attendance on this occasion. Contact details are available on this website. They will also be sent out on the notification letter that you received.

Downloads

Guidance on remote inquest hearing participation

PDF, 208 KB