17 September 2024

Voicing Loss research on coroners’ inquests

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The Advocate's Gateway (TAG) is proud to share the results of the Voicing Loss project: an ESRC-funded study on bereaved people's experiences of the coroner service. 

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n June, Voicing Loss published many of the findings of the research via a dedicated project website. The outputs available here include policy and practice briefings, an Expert Insights blog, information for the general public, and research reports. The focus of the practice briefings, in particular, is on ways of supporting and facilitating participation of bereaved people through the coronial process. TAG is delighted to share the these findings and consider them to be pivotal to the work that TAG does in providing guidance to practitioners when dealing with vulnerable persons in the justice system.

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By way of summary of the Voicing Loss research:​

Research by Birkbeck, University of London, and the University of Bath recently examined the role of bereaved people in coroners’ inquests. The Voicing Loss study entailed interviews with 89 individuals who had experienced the coronial process following the death of someone they were close to. Coronial professionals (including coroners, lawyers, coroners’ officers and others) and witnesses were also interviewed. It is the largest ever empirical investigation of lay and professional experiences of the coronial process in England and Wales.

Government and successive Chief Coroners have frequently reiterated that the bereaved should be ‘at the heart’ of the coroner service. However, most of the Voicing Loss bereaved interviewees reported that they had encountered barriers to participation in the coronial process and often felt far from its ‘heart’. Many aspects were experienced as daunting, confusing and alienating. They felt marginalised and powerless, especially during longer inquest hearings at which multiple professionals, all with legal representatives, were present.

Among outputs of Voicing Loss are a series of Principles for Practice papers for professionals and practitioners in the coronial sector, on the themes of ‘Information and communication’, ‘Quality of interactions at inquest hearings’, and ‘Respecting and including the deceased person’. These papers identify good practice principles for supporting bereaved people’s participation in the coronial process, and ensuring that humanity is central to it operation.

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The Principles for Practice papers and other project outputs are available at the Voicing Loss website: https://voicing-loss.icpr.org.uk/