‘I just felt we were shadows’: scope and limits of participation by bereaved families in coroners’ inquests in England and Wales

A long-standing legal principle in England and Wales is that members of the public should be able to participate effectively in court proceedings that directly concern them. This paper examines the application of this principle to the role of family in coroners’ inquests, which investigate violent, unnatural and unexplained deaths, and deaths which have occurred in state detention. Close family members of the deceased person have the right to participate in the inquest, and there is a widely stated policy goal that the bereaved should be ‘at the heart’ of the coronial process. Empirical research examining lay and professional experiences of inquests found that participation was deemed important as a means of acknowledging the grief of the bereaved and personhood of the deceased, and on the basis that it contributes to accurate fact-finding and effective outcomes. The research also found, however, that practical and procedural barriers to participation often leave bereaved family feeling excluded and denied a voice, compounding their pain and distress. If these barriers are to be overcome there must be courtroom reform, clarification and better communication of the inquest’s purpose, and a cultural shift towards putting humanity at the heart of the process.