Page 60 - When Things Go Wrong

3.39 Our consultees and members of the Working Party acting for bereaved families
stressed that in practice, communication tends to be irregular, with long periods
of silence typically followed by a sudden deluge of information and disclosure
shortly before a hearing. In general, we conclude that more regular contact is
desirable. However, we recognise that in some cases additional contact may
serve to re-traumatise and be unwanted. Moreover a person’s need for regular
contact may change as a hearing approaches.

3.40 We recommend that where an inquest is opened, progress updates should
be given to family interested persons every three weeks, or by agreement
at such interval as the family interested party requests. The “victim
contract” drawn up between certain police forces and victims of crime to
regulate contact in accordance with the victim’s wishes may serve as an
appropriate model. 160 Bereaved people should also be able to nominate a
lawyer or other advice or support worker to pass on the information.

3.41 JUSTICE has previously recommended that information about justice
processes is made available in a variety of formats. The JUSTICE Working
Party report Understanding Courts suggested that “information should be
communicated aurally as well as in written form, and, ideally, involve an
opportunity to experience or engage, to be fully understood”, noting the
advantages of using video. 161 That Working Party found that “the HMCTS
video for jury service is an excellent introduction to the role, showing the trial
process with a clear and straight forward explanation of what happens and of
the juror’s responsibilities … much of what is contained in this video could be
used as an introduction to criminal trials for all lay users”. 162

3.42 Building on a recommendation from that report and reflecting ideas
independently voiced in the course of this Working Party’s deliberations, we
recommend that where a coroner opens an inquest, or the Chief Coroner

160 See Suffolk Police, ‘Victim and Witness Information’ (undated), p. 2.
161 JUSTICE (2019), supra note 19, para 2.4, citing Jan Louis Kruger and Stephen Doherty, ‘Measuring
cognitive load in the presence of educational video: towards a multimodal methodology’ (2016) 32(6)
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 16.

162 Ibid, para 2.32.
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