Today (26 April) His Honour Judge Thomas Teague KC, Chief Coroner of England and Wales, has released his annual report to the Lord Chancellor for 2023.
The NAFD is still analysing the document, but was pleased to see that the emphasis we have placed on addressing Coroner’s delays – to reduce the impact on the death management process and improve the experience of bereaved people – reflected in one of HHJ Teague’s recommendations:
“Coroner cases should be conducted without delay – the posthumous duty of the family to the deceased includes ensuring that the body is disposed of with dignity and in accordance with the deceased person’s beliefs, that the death is registered, and that the estate is dealt with as the deceased person would have wanted.
“Where a death has been reported to a coroner, the family cannot arrange for their loved one to be buried or cremated until the coroner has released the body. The registration of the death is also delayed until the coroner’s investigation concludes. There is therefore a tension between the coroner’s duty to investigate and the family’s need to fulfil their obligations to their loved one.
“This tension is particularly acute where the deceased person held religious beliefs that are incompatible with delayed burial. Delays within the coroner service not only prevent some families from complying with their loved one’s beliefs, but also compound families’ grief and impact on the reliability of the evidence available to coronial investigations.
“Avoiding unnecessary delay must therefore be a key priority for the coroner service.”
You can also read the NAFD’s evidence on the coroner’s service in England and Wales to the Justice Select Committee (January 2024) here.