Suicide: The Scope of the Investigation in the Coroner’s Court

Article Sidebar

PDF EPUB
Published: Feb 4, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5750/dlj.v33i1.2351
Keywords:
coroner suicide scope of investigation inquest public interest bullying

Main Article Content

Andrew Harris
London Inner South and now Assistant Coroner, South London, and Professor of Coronial Law, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary’s University of London
Anton van Dellen
Barrister of Fraser Chambers and Assistant Coroner, West London

Abstract

There has been public concern that some suicides are not investigated to identify causes or triggers, unless required by the European Convention on Human Rights. The paper reviews the statute and case law governing the decision of the Coroner as to the scope of investigation into suicide. The role of the Coroner in assessing public interest is discussed. There is particular reference to allegations of bullying. The science of suicide and bullying is reviewed and their impact on how an inquest is held is considered. Drawing together the science and caselaw, a framework is proposed for judicial decision making.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 33 No. 1 (2024)
Section
Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors retain the copyright and grant to the Journal the right to publish under license.

Authors retain the right to use their article (provided you acknowledge the published original in standard bibliographic citation form) in the following ways, as long as you do not sell it or give it away in ways that would conflict with our commercial business interests:

internal educational or other purposes of your own institution or company;

mounted on your own or your institutions website;

posted to free public servers of preprints and or article in your subject area;

or in whole or in part, as the basis for your own further publications or spoken presentations.