The Law Society Gazette: A postcode lottery for the bereaved (12 January 2024)

Summary

When a family loses a loved one in unclear or unexplained circumstances, there is one thing that family members need above all else: answers. How did their loved one die, and could their death have been prevented?

The Coroner Service is there to answer these questions. But in his annual report published in December, the chief coroner Judge Thomas Teague revealed the extensive delays now occurring in the coroners’ courts. In April 2021 more than 5,000 families waited over a year for the coroner to complete their investigations. This was a staggering increase on pre-pandemic figures, with 2,278 cases having lasted more than 12 months in 2019. And while figures from April 2022 suggest the backlog is gradually reducing (with 4,568 cases taking more than 12 months), it is clear that far too many families are still facing agonising delays, sometimes lasting several years.