Page 46 - When Things Go Wrong

III. OPENING INVESTIGATIONS

My whole perception of justice, of public service, stuff I thought I could rely on –
turned out to be a paper tiger. The culture of these institutions is to obfuscate, and
no one guides you through the process. We were still shell-shocked. We didn’t know
about different types of inquest...we didn’t know that we could be represented.
Evidence of a bereaved brother.

3.1 For those already dealing with bereavement, confrontation with the complex
legal processes triggered by a fatal event can serve to prolong and intensify
trauma. Multiple concurrent investigations may require grieving families to tell
their stories several times, often without the equivalent care or safeguards
afforded to victims of crime, despite the wrongs they may have suffered.

3.2 Concurrently, bereaved people often receive insufficient information as to their
legal rights and only sporadic communication as to the progress of
investigations. This affects participation. In her 2017 Review, Dame Elish
Angiolini highlighted the State’s responsibilities to bereaved people in the
investigative phase, stressing that their involvement “should not be seen as a
matter of being sympathetic or benevolent … under Article 2 of the European
Convention on Human Rights families of the deceased must be allowed to be
involved in the investigation in a meaningful way”. 119

Status of bereaved people

3.3 Interested person and core participant bereaved people and survivors in
inquests and inquiries will have suffered serious harm, often at the hands of
State or corporate bodies. However, families do not receive the same practical
support as those recognised as ‘victims’ in the criminal justice system.
INQUEST in written submissions to the Angiolini Review noted that “as soon
as police officers were charged with criminal offences the families of Azelle
Rodney and Thomas Orchard were assisted by Victim Support with
transportation and accommodation around the trial. This is in sharp contrast to

119 Angiolini, supra note 15, Executive Summary, para 30.
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