Friday 8 May 2009

Appeal to go ahead and Coroner's Bill

Although it has been some time since I have updated the blog, the case has been progressing and we can now announce that permission to appeal has been granted and that the appeal will go ahead on either 10th or 11th June. The case will be heard by the Master of the Queen's Bench Division and two senior judges who will decide whether the refusal of the High Court to grant a full Judicial Review was correct.

It has taken a considerable amount of time for us to get to this point, largely because of court delays. With the third anniversary of my mother's death approaching in November, we hope that it will not be another anniversary where we are left with the legal system grinding on without any end in sight.

Even if our appeal is successful, it would only mean that the case would then be sent back to the High Court to enable a full Judicial Review hearing to take place, a process which could again take months. Yet, my family and I remain entirely committed to pursuing our legal rights and bringing to light the appalling circumstances of my mother's death.

The Mental Health Trust has said that it will not take part in the Appeal as there has 'already been significant public expenditure' on this case. Whilst we have no desire to deal with the Mental Health Trust ourselves, we think the way they have approached the case thus far has been appalling, especially with regards to the delaying tactics they have employed in disclosing vital information.

The new evidence that came to light from the full disclosure of my mother's medical records turned out to be vital, and yet they have attempted to rely on these delays to suggest that the case should now lapse due to the 'passage of time'. Of course, we refuse to be insulted in this way and even the High Court judge was unimpressed with this ridiculous argument.

The Coroner's and Justice Bill is still going through Parliament and is currently awaiting the Lords 2nd Reading before a Committee and Report stage when it will become law. The duty to hold inquests in front of juries where the deceased was in detention or custody prior to death has failed to be amended to become automatic, meaning only deaths of a violent or unnatural nature will be investigated in this way. My family and I believe this will fail to take into account systemic problems such as those that affected my mother and believe the Bill should make all such inquests automatically before juries.

Please write to members of the House of Lords to urge that s.7 of the Coroner's and Justice Bill should be amended to make juries automatically required where a death has occurred in the custody or detention of the state.

You can email Lords easily by using the following link: Write to Them (Lords). Lords are not elected and so you can write to any Lord that comes to mind, or even send a messages to various Lords. To search for Lords with a particular interest, use the search engine and enter the words 'coroner', 'mental health', 'human rights' or anything else you think is relevant.

Here is the suggested text of the letter:


Dear Lord xx,

Coroner's and Justice Bill - protecting those detained by the state

I am writing to urge you to take part in the upcoming Second Reading of the Coroner's and Justice Bill which will take place on 18th May. As you are aware, the Coronial system is in desperate need of reform and this Bill has the potential to change things dramatically.

In particular I have read that s.7 of the Bill appears to be weakening the legal requirement for inquests to be held before juries where the deceased person was in the custody or detention of the state. The current position is that all deaths in custody are automatically heard before juries, in recognition of the fact that the state must be properly held accountable for all deaths that occur on its watch.

s.7 of the Bill currently states that inquests into deaths that have occurred in detention or custody will only take place before juries where the death was violent or unnatural (s.7(2)(a)(i)), where the cause of death is unknown (s.7(2)(a)(ii)), where a member of the police is involved (s.7(2)(b)(i) and (ii)), where the death was due to a notifiable accident, poisioning or disease (s.7(2)(c)), or otherwise where the senior coroner thinks there is sufficient reason for doing so (s.7(3)).

I am concerned that this means a large number of deaths which would previously have been investigated (e.g. deaths in prison) will not automatically be heard before a jury.

In addition to this, I believe that all deaths where the state is implicated (deaths in custody, as well as those relating to people detained under the Mental Health Acts) require the highest level of scrutiny due to the vulnerable position of prisoners and detained people in society. The state has a legal obligation to protect the rights of those in its custody and detention, as well as to fully investigate such deaths under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.

I urge you to introduce or support an amendment to s.7 of the Coroner's and Justice Bill to make inquests concerning the deaths of those in custody or detention automatically heard before juries. The state must be seem to take such deaths seriously, including where there may be evidence of systemic failures which result in death, and this amendment would also give families more confidence that the state is prepared to take responsibility for properly investigating any problems.

I would be interested to hear your perspective on this and look forward to hearing the outcome of the debate on 15th May.

Yours sincerely,
xxxx



Best wishes to you all,
Steven