Inquests in England and Wales - Scope of Inquest

Scope of Inquest

The purpose of the inquest is to answer four questions:

• Identity of the deceased
• Place of death
• Time of death
• How the deceased came by his/her death

Evidence must be solely for the purpose of answering these questions and no other evidence is admitted. It is not for the inquest to ascertain "how the deceased died" or "in what broad circumstances", but "how the deceased came by his death", a more limited question. Moreover, it is not the purpose of the inquest to determine, or appear to determine, criminal or civil liability, to apportion guilt or attribute blame. For example, where a prisoner hanged himself in a cell, he came by his death by hanging and it was not the role of the inquest to enquire into the broader circumstances such as the alleged neglect of the prison authorities that might have contributed to his state of mind or given him the opportunity. However, the inquest should set out as many of the facts as the public interest requires.

Under the terms of article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, governments are required to "establish a framework of laws, precautions, procedures and means of enforcement which will, to the greatest extent reasonably practicable, protect life." The European Court of Human Rights has interpreted this as mandating independent official investigation of any death where public servants may be implicated. Since the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force, in those cases alone, the inquest is now to consider the broader question "by what means and in what circumstances".

In disasters, such as the King's Cross fire, a single inquest may be held into several deaths. However, when several protesters were shot and killed by police in Mitchelstown in 1887, the findings of a common inquest were quashed because the killings had taken place at different times and in different places.