Inquest blog series – Interested person status: to be or not to be

Welcome to our new inquest blog series.

Members of our inquest and inquiries team will be posting blogs to provide what we hope is helpful guidance and insight on common issues arising.

Interested person status: to be or not to be

The starting point is that there are no parties to an inquest, although it often doesn’t feel that way. The rationale is that:

“…an inquest is a fact finding exercise and not a method of apportioning guilt. The procedure and rules of evidence which are suitable for one are unsuitable for the other. In an inquest it should never be forgotten that there are no parties, there is no indictment, there is no prosecution, there is no defence, there is no trial, simply an attempt to establish the facts. It is an inquisitorial process a process of investigation quite unlike a criminal trial where the prosecutor accuses and the accused defends, the judge holding the balance or the ring, whichever metaphor one chooses to use.” [1]

1. To be notified of the date, time and place of the inquest hearing (Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, r.9(2)) and to attend the same;
2. Subject to any restrictions on disclosure arising under r.15 of the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, to be provided with a document or a copy of that document (Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, r.13(1));
3. To examine any witness either in person or through their representative (Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, r.19(1)); and
4. To make submissions to the coroner on matters such as conclusions.

So far, so clear – save that these decisions are not always straightforward. A coroner may grant interested person designation of their own volition. Other times, a potentially interested person may be missed or be of borderline involvement such that their status requires careful consideration.

The first decision for such a party is whether to seek interested person designation. The starting point is to guard against conflating interested person and witness status. Avoiding designation as an interested person does not mean a person capable of giving relevant evidence will not be still called by the coroner as a witness.

Thereafter, what are the advantages and disadvantages? If a person or organisation foresees that their involvement may be within an inquest’s scope, it is generally preferable to seek the benefits of interested person status. The advantages include the ability to make submissions on substantive issues, as well as witnesses not being required to give their account blind as to the wider complexion of the evidence (unless that is tactically required to avoid contamination of their evidence).

If interested person status is sought in circumstances where the narrow permissive gateways are not triggered, there remains the wide “sufficient interest” provision. To qualify, there must be:

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Authors

Olivia Checa-Dover

Call 2007

Related areas

Inquests

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Public Inquiries

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