The Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
2013 No. 1616
Coroners, England And Wales
The Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013
Made 2nd July 2013
Laid before Parliament 4th July 2013
Coming into force 25th July 2013
The Lord Chief Justice, with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor, makes these Rules in exercise of the powers conferred by section 45 of the Coroners and Justice Act 20091.
PART 1
Introduction
Citation and commencement
1. These Rules may be cited as the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013 and shall come into force on 25th July 2013.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Rules—
“the 2009 Act” means the Coroners and Justice Act 2009;
“bank holiday” means a day designated as a bank holiday in England and Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 19712;
“copy” means in relation to a document, anything on to which information recorded in the document has been copied, by whatever means and whether directly or indirectly;
“coroner” means—
(a) a senior coroner, area coroner or assistant coroner;
(b) the Chief Coroner when conducting an inquest; or
(c) a judge, former judge or former coroner conducting an inquest in accordance with Schedule 10 to the 2009 Act;
“document” means any medium in which information of any description is recorded or stored;
“working day” means a day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday, a bank holiday, Christmas Day or Good Friday.
(2) All references to section and schedule provisions in these Rules are references to provisions in the 2009 Act, unless a rule specifically states otherwise.
(3) Any reference to a Form in these Rules is a reference to a Form in the Schedule to these Rules.
Application to existing inquests
3.—(1) These Rules apply to any inquest which has not been completed before 25th July 2013.
(2) Any direction, time limit, adjournment or other decision made by the coroner in relation to an inquest made before 25th July 2013 shall stand.
PART 2
Formalities
4. This Part applies where a coroner is under a duty to hold an inquest under section 6.
Opening of an inquest
5.—(1) An inquest must be opened as soon as reasonably practicable after the date on which the coroner considers that the duty under section 6 applies.
(2) At the opening of the inquest, the coroner must, where possible, set the dates on which any subsequent hearings are scheduled to take place.
Pre-inquest review hearing
6. A coroner may at any time during the course of an investigation and before an inquest hearing hold a pre-inquest review hearing.
Days on which an inquest may be held
7. An inquest must be held on a working day, unless the coroner considers that there is an urgent reason for holding it on some other day.
Timing of an inquest
8. A coroner must complete an inquest within six months of the date on which the coroner is made aware of the death, or as soon as is reasonably practicable after that date.
Notification of inquest hearing arrangements
9.—(1) A coroner must notify the next of kin or personal representative of the deceased of the date, time and place of the inquest hearing within one week of setting the date of the inquest hearing.
(2) A coroner must notify any other interested persons who have made themselves known to the coroner of the date, time and place of the inquest hearing within one week of setting the date of the inquest hearing.
(3) Where an inquest hearing is to be held, the coroner must make details of the date, time and place of the inquest hearing publicly available before the inquest hearing commences.
Coroner to notify interested persons of any alteration of arrangements for an inquest hearing
10.—(1) Where the date, time or place of the inquest hearing is altered the coroner must notify the next of kin or personal representative of the deceased, and any other interested persons who have made themselves known to the coroner, of the alteration within one week of the decision to alter.
(2) The coroner must make the details of any alteration made under paragraph (1) publicly available within one week of the decision to alter.
Inquest hearings to be held in public
11.—(1) A coroner must open an inquest in public.
(2) Where the coroner does not have immediate access to a court room or other appropriate premises, the coroner may open the inquest privately and then announce that the inquest has been opened at the next inquest hearing held in public.
(3) An inquest hearing and any pre-inquest hearing must be held in public unless paragraph (4) or (5) applies.
(4) A coroner may direct that the public be excluded from an inquest hearing, or any part of an inquest hearing if the coroner considers it would be in the interests of national security to do so.
(5) A coroner may direct that the public be excluded from a pre-inquest review hearing if the coroner considers it would be in the interests of justice or national security to do so.
PART 3
Disclosure
12. This Part applies to the disclosure of documents by the coroner during or after the course of an investigation, pre-inquest review or inquest.
Disclosure of documents at the request of an interested person
13.—(1) Subject to rule 15, where an interested person asks for disclosure of a document held by the coroner, the coroner must provide that document or a copy of that document, or make the document available for inspection by that person as soon as is reasonably practicable.
(2) Documents to which this rule applies include—
(a)
(a) any post-mortem examination report;
(b)
(b) any other report that has been provided to the coroner during the course of the investigation;
(c)
(c) where available, the recording of any inquest hearing held in public, but not in relation to any part of the hearing from which the public was excluded under rule 11(4) or (5);
(d)
(d) any other document which the coroner considers relevant to the inquest.
Managing disclosure
14. A coroner may—
(a) disclose an electronic copy of a document instead of, or in addition to, a paper copy;
(b) disclose a redacted version of all or part of a document; or
(c) make a document available for inspection at a particular time and place.
Restrictions on disclosure
15. A coroner may refuse to provide a document or a copy of a document requested under rule 13 where—
(a) there is a statutory or legal prohibition on disclosure;
(b) the consent of any author or copyright owner cannot reasonably be obtained;
(c) the request is unreasonable;
(d) the document relates to contemplated or commenced criminal proceedings; or
(e) the coroner considers the document irrelevant to the investigation.
Costs of disclosure
16. A coroner may not charge a fee for any document or copy of any document, disclosed to an interested person before or during an inquest3.
PART 4
Management of the inquest hearing
Evidence by video link
17.—(1) A coroner may direct that a witness may give evidence at an inquest hearing through a live video link.
(2) A direction may not be given under paragraph (1) unless the coroner determines that giving evidence in the way proposed would improve the quality of the evidence given by the witness or allow the inquest to proceed more expediently.
(3) Before giving a direction under paragraph (1), the coroner must consider all the circumstances of the case, including in particular—
(a)
(a) any views expressed by the witness or any interested person;
(b)
(b) whether it would be in the interests of justice or national security to give evidence by video link; and
(c)
(c) whether in the opinion of the coroner, giving evidence by video link would impede the effectiveness of the questioning of the witness.
(4) A direction may be given under paragraph (1)—
(a)
(a) on an application by the witness, or in the case of a child witness the parent or legal guardian of that witness;
(b)
(b) on an application by an interested person; or
(c)
(c) on the coroner’s own initiative.
Evidence given from behind a screen
18.—(1) A coroner may direct that a witness may give evidence at an inquest hearing from behind a screen.
(2) A direction may not be given under paragraph (1) unless the coroner determines that giving evidence in the way proposed would be likely to improve the quality of the evidence given by the witness or allow the inquest to proceed more expediently.
(3) In making that determination, the coroner must consider all the circumstances of the case, including in particular—
(a)
(a) any views expressed by the witness or an interested person;
(b)
(b) whether it would be in the...
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