INQUESTS INVOLVING MATTERS THAT SHOULD
NOT BE MADE PUBLIC
12. The Coroners and Justice Bill contains provisions
for inquests that are certified by the Secretary of State as involving
matters that should not be made publicon the grounds of
risk to national security, relations with another country, the
prevention or detection of crime, the safety of a witness or other
person or the public interestto be conducted by a judge
of the High Court (acting under coronial law) and without a jury.
Ancillary to this is a provision amending the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) to allow any material to which RIPA applies
to be disclosed to the High Court judge conducting the investigation
or any person appointed as independent counsel to the inquest;
including one representing the interests of the deceased's family
(and such counsel may probe and challenge the evidence on their
behalf).[9]
13. Equivalent provisions first appeared in the
Counter-Terrorism Bill of Session 2007-08 without any form of
prior consultation and without reference to their human rights
implications in the explanatory notes to the bill. These provisions
were reported on by both this Committee and the Joint Committee
on Human Rights. Both committees took the view that the provisions
could be damaging to the obligation on the UK, under Article 2
of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), to undertake
an investigation into a death by force, particularly force used
by state agents, which is effective, independent, open to public
scrutiny and involves the next of kin. It was also unclear why
the existing law of public interest immunity does not provide
adequate protection. Finally, a potential inconsistency in the
use of intercept evidence in inquests on the one hand, and criminal
trials on the other, appeared to be created by the proposed amending
of RIPA in the bill.[10]
14. The Government withdrew
the clauses providing for inquests without juries from the Counter-Terrorism
Bill in 2008 but has re-introduced similar provisions in the Coroners
and Justice Bill. However, we are not aware of any consultation
on these provisions having taken place in the intervening period
despite reservations having been expressed by the two most relevant
select committees of the House. These clauses, and the changes
made to them since their first appearance in the Counter-Terrorism
Bill, will therefore merit close and careful scrutiny as the Coroners
and Justice Bill passes through Parliament. The Government should
be prepared to withdraw them once again if it cannot justify these
provisions as proportionate and fully compatible with Article
2 of the ECHR.
CHARTER FOR BEREAVED PEOPLE
15. In 2006, the Constitutional Affairs Committee
received evidence of variations in people's experience of the
coroners serviceranging from compassionately administered
practices to outright "horror stories"and welcomed
the Government's proposal for a charter for the bereaved.[11]
The Coroners and Justice Bill contains provisions enabling the
Lord Chancellor, after consultation with the new Chief Coroner,
to issue guidance "about the way in which the coroner system
is expected to operate in relation to interested persons".[12]
The explanatory notes to the bill state that: "It is intended
that the first such guidance will be in relation to bereaved people,
in the form of the draft Charter for the Bereaved, published at
the same time as the Bill. Further non-statutory guidance may
be introduced for other classes of interested persons in the future."[13]
16. A draft Charter for bereaved people was first
published in July 2006 alongside the original the draft Coroners
Bill. There was public consultation following publication and
further consultation in 2008. The Minister's foreword to the latest
version heralds more consultation by the new Chief Coroner before
the reforms are implemented in full "in two or three years'
time".[14] The provisions
of the current draft Charter are summarised in an annex to this
report. We regard the aspirations expressed through the draft
Charter as commendable. An additional duty on coroners to provide
information for families with whom they are dealing on the full
range of their potential responsibilities, and available support,
in relation to public authorities would make the charter more
comprehensive.[15]
17. We welcome the Government's
latest proposals for a charter for bereaved people in contact
with the coroner system. However, we have already expressed our
concern about the risk that not all coroner areas will be able
to fulfil the expectations raised by the Government's overall
plans for reform. We are especially concerned that bereaved people
in particular may be disappointed in circumstances where variable
standards in service are likely to persist, despite a charter,
as a result of continuing reliance on localised arrangements leading
to diverse levels of funding and facilities in different areas.
2 Eighth Report from the Constitutional Affairs Committee,
Session 2005-06, Reform of the coroners' system and death certification,
HC 902 (Government reply, Cm 6943) Back
3
HC (2005-06) 902-I, para 101 Back
4
Bill 9, 54/4, Part 1, Chapter 4 and Schedule 3 Back
5
HC (2005-06) 902 and see para 46 Back
6
Department of Health, Improving the process of death certification
in England and Wales: overview of programme, November 2008,
GR-10797 Back
7
Bill 9, 54/4, Part 1, Chapter 2 Back
8
Coroners and Justice Bill, Explanatory Notes, Bill 9 - EN, paras
160-161 Back
9
Bill 9, 54/4, Part 1, Chapter 1, Clauses 11 and 13 and see Explanatory
Notes, Bill 9 - EN, para 99-103 and 108. Back
10
Justice Committee, Third Report of Session 2007-08, Counter
Terrorism Bill, HC 405, and Joint Committee on Human Rights,
Thirtieth Report of Session 2007-08, Counter-terrorism policy
and human rights (thirteenth report): Counter-Terrorism Bill,
HC 1077 / HL 172, paragraphs 110-121 Back
11
Eighth Report from the Constitutional Affairs Committee, Session
2005-06, Reform of the coroners' system and death certification,
HC 902 (Government reply, Cm 6943), paragraphs 79 and 185 Back
12
Bill 9, 54/4, Part 1, Chapter 6, Clause 32. Clause 36 defines
"interested persons" and includes, amongst others, the
family, and personal representatives, of the deceased. Back
13
Bill 9-EN, 54/4, paragraph 282 Back
14
Charter for bereaved people who come into contact with a reformed
coroner system, Revised draft Charter and response to 2008
discussion paper, ministry of Justice, January 2009 (www.justice.gov.uk/docs/charter-bereaved.pdf) Back
15
Bereaved families whose loss is being dealt with by a coroner
may have no cause to be in contact with other public authorities,
such as a registrar of births, deaths and marriages, until after
investigation and/or inquest. In such cases coroners should be
responsible for supplying information to families such as is summarised
in What to do after a death in England and Wales: A guide to what
you must do and the help you can get, previously issued by the
Department for Work and Pensions, D49, April 2006. Back