Important Developments - Court of Appeal and Coroners Bill

There have been a couple of important developments over the last couple of weeks both in the Court of Appeal case and in the passage of the Coroners and Justice Bill.

In the case, we found out that the hearing which was ordered by Lady Justice Arden earlier this year had included a misdirection for only the matter relating to Permission for the Judicial Review to be heard. On further analysis, the Court found that it could also hear the substantive issue of the Judicial Review, namely whether or not a new inquest should take place, and this has today been ordered by Lord Justice Dyson, who will also be one of the judges to hear the case.

The hearing has been ordered to take place this Wednesday at the Court of Appeal. This means that the long battle by our family to have some of the issues relating to my mum's death will be, for the first time, argued in detail before some of the most senior members of the judiciary.

The Mental Health Trust has informed the Court that it will not be sending representation, presumably because they are washing their hands of the case or are writing off our chances. This sort of behaviour is, however, par for the course with the Trust and we will put forward a compelling argument for a full inquiry into their actions on Wednesday.

Please feel free to attend Court on Wednesday if you are free and willing. The hearing will take place at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in central London at a time to be decided by the end of tomorrow and attendees are allowed to sit in the public gallery.

The Coroners and Justice Bill

In another important development, a list of Amendments to the Coroners and Justice Bill have been published and can be found online here - Parliament website. The Committee Stage in the Lords, which will begin tomorrow (9th June) and continue on Wednesday 10th, and also 23rd, is an opportunity for proposed Amendments to be debated and voted on.

Baroness Murphy, in an inauspicious but important Amendment, has called for lines 22-24 to be removed from the Bill. Effectively, this Amendment aims to remove the limitations on the calling of juries in the cases of people dying in state detention or custody. If the Amendment is successful juries would automatically be called in all such cases, in line with the calls that have been made by many of you, I and charities including Liberty and Black Mental Health. Many thanks to all of you who have been so active on this issue.

Anyone who wishes to attend the Committee should be able to get access to the public gallery of the House of Lords, and I will try to be there tomorrow too. Do let me know if you intend to come along by email - steven.allen -at- gmail.com.