Bereaved families are often denied the appropriate support they need for inquests when a loved one has died in circumstances involving public authorities, such as the police, hospitals, and councils.
Change has been promised in the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, which has this week been carried over into the next parliamentary session having stalled in recent months.
When someone dies unexpectedly, relatives often have to deal with attending an inquest as they seek answers about how their loved one died, which can be an overwhelming experience.
Inquests are public hearings held to investigate deaths which appear to be due to unknown, violent, or unnatural causes. They establish who the deceased was, and where, when and by what means they died.
In cases where someone has died and a public authority is an interested party, that public body, such as a local authority, hospital or the police, can have legal representation paid for from public funds.
The family of the person who died has no automatic right to publicly-funded legal help. Legal aid for representation at inquests is available to families in rare circumstances if they can prove their case meets the criteria for ‘exceptional case funding’. But the threshold is set so high - a case must involve the death of someone while in the care of the state or a public body, or be deemed to be of wider public interest, that it is hardly ever granted.
The situation is a total inequality of arms and a deeply insensitive way to treat grieving relatives.
Most families will have never set foot inside a coroner’s court where inquests are held and often have little understanding of what to expect. To sit through an inquest into a loved one’s death will be an extremely distressing experience as detailed evidence of how a person died is heard in front of a coroner and, in some cases, a jury too. A verdict on how someone died is given at the conclusion of an inquest.
Many bereaved families have to represent themselves, or must resort to crowdfunding or pro-bono help to secure legal representation at inquests. It is without doubt one of the times when families need legal help the most. APIL has long campaigned for change.
A provision in the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, if passed, would mean bereaved families would be able to secure legal aid representation and advocacy at inquests where a public authority is involved.
Families will be able to have a lawyer act on their behalf. A lawyer is skilled at interpreting complex inquest reports and witness statements, and will ensure that the right questions are asked of any parties, including a public authority, to secure the answers families need about what happened to their relative.
It benefits all of society for inquests to establish the truth about a person’s untimely death. It is also a way to publicly draw attention to any negligence, which might have been caused by a public authority so lessons can be learned and more lives are not needlessly lost.
If change happens to legal aid it will be long overdue. Families experiencing the darkest of times need access justice, and to be treated with the fairness and compassion they deserve