Page 88 - When Things Go Wrong

process, in circumstances where the cost of representation in an inquest is in
any event beyond those of any reasonable means.

5.20 A number of previous reviews have made recommendations for the provision
of non-means tested publicly funded advocacy in inquests where the State is
represented. These include: the final report of the Bach Commission; 242 Dame
Elish Angiolini’s Review; 243 Patronising Disposition; 244 and the Chief
Coroner’s Third Annual Report: 2015-16. 245

5.21 Despite the collective force of these recommendations, 246 the Ministry of
Justice reached the following conclusion in its February 2019 ‘Final report:
Review of legal aid for inquests’:

129 […] In the main, responses from bereaved families and representative
bodies suggested that public funding for families in these cases is required
to ensure that there is an equality of arms […] However, a number of
stakeholders pointed out that it should not be assumed that in cases where
the state has legal representation, representation for the family is
necessarily required nor that it enhances the results of the coroner’s
investigation. They suggested that the addition of further lawyers might
actually hinder the process, by making the process more adversarial and
legally complex.

130. We have also looked into the financial implications of this option.
We have estimated that this option would result in an additional spend of
between £30 million and £70 million. Having taken all of these
considerations on board, we have decided that we will not be introducing

242 The Bach Commission, The Right to Justice: the final report of the Bach Commission (2017), p. 33.
243 Angiolini, supra note 15, p. 238, recommendation 33.
244 Jones, supra note 16, p. 98, Point of Learning 9(i).
245 HHJ Peter Thornton QC, Report of the Chief Coroner to the Lord Chancellor, Third Annual Report:
2015-2016 (2016), see paras 201-3.
246 See also INQUEST, ‘Now or never! Legal Aid for Inquests’, February 2019.

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