Author: Bridget Dolan QC

 ORR and Dorris v Secretary of State for Transport [2023] EWCR 1 (judgment here) This judgment, that was held back until the completion of a criminal trial, highlights again the thorny issue of the disclosure into subsequent legal proceedings of ‘protected material’ that has been collected during an independent Accident Investigation Branch’s (‘AIB’) investigation. Limited […]

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R(Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service) v Senior Coroner for Pembrokeshire & Carmarthenshire and Marine Accident Investigation Branch [2023] EWHC 1669 (Admin) 12.7.23 (judgment here)   The High Court’s Norfolk[1] decision has sat uneasily with some in the coronial law community. Although coroners have a statutory duty to investigate a cause of death, […]

Read More… from Adopting Accident Investigation Branch reports and the requirement to conduct Inquests fairly

R (Maguire) v HM Senior Coroner for Blackpool and Fylde, [2023] UKSC 20 (judgment here) Anyone who had been holding their breath waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision in Maguire can now breathe out.    Nothing has changed.   The Senior Coroner, the Chief Coroner,[1] a High Court judge, and four Court of Appeal judges were all […]

Read More… from Supreme Court outlines Art 2 obligations in community & healthcare settings

R (Bailey) v Secretary of State for Justice [2023] EWHC 821 (Admin)  (judgment here) A challenge to the Secretary of State for Justice amending the Parole Board rules and issuing guidance about those changes is not obvious bed-time reading for those who work in the coronial jurisdiction.   But hidden within the series of judgments arising […]

Read More… from Refusal to answer a question seeking an opinion may be a contempt of court

Bell v HM Senior Coroner for South Yorkshire King’s Bench Division (Administrative Court) 21 March 2023, [2023] 3 WLUK 342, Hot on the heels of his decision as part of the appellate bench in Dove[1] last week, comes another foray into the question of the extent of the scope of an inquest into a likely […]

Read More… from Cogent evidence required before a fresh inquest is ordered