The Inquest Book

The 2nd edition of this essential handbook on coronial law incorporates the significant and profound changes that have impacted the legislation and case law of this area of law since first publication. These include: - the COVID-19 pandemic, and its profound impact on the practical aspects of coronial law, including a huge surge in death reporting, the postponement of inquests, and hybrid hearings. - the narrowing in scope of Article 2 ECHR, which protects the right to life, and the changes in burden of proof for suicide and unlawful killing to the civil standard of proof. - the lessons that need to be learned from the numerous high-profile and controversial inquests, including the Hillsborough Disaster, the London Bridge attack, Manchester Arena bombing, and Westminster Bridge attack. The Inquest Book is the definitive guide to inquests, providing clear commentary on the relevant legislation and case law summaries in a single volume. It is structured according to the elements of an inquest or the subject matter of a coroners investigation. Each chapter provides an overview of the legal issues, statutory material, and other sources of guidance, followed by case summaries and extracts where the relevant issues are discussed. This new edition includes 'mini' indices within the book, for easier internal reference.