The Ninth Annual Leeming Lecture:

Doctors for the Living; Doctors for the Dead

Hosted by the Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law, University of Greater Manchester

Professor Paul Marks – Retired HM Senior Coroner

Tuesday 10 November 2026 | 5.00 pm (GMT)

 Online on MS Teams

The Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law at the University of Greater Manchester is delighted to invite colleagues from across the coronial, legal, medical and wider professional communities, together with anyone with an interest in coronial law, death investigation and medico-legal practice, to attend the Ninth Annual Leeming Lecture.

This year’s lecture will be delivered by Professor Paul Marks, retired HM Senior Coroner for the City of Kingston upon Hull and the County of the East Riding of Yorkshire, who brings extensive experience of both coronial practice and clinical medicine.

Professor Marks served as a coroner for more than two decades, having first held coronial office in West Yorkshire in 2004. Before his appointment as Senior Coroner, he enjoyed a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years in neurosurgery, working in Cambridge, Auckland and Leeds. He is also a Past President of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine (FFLM).

About the lecture

Entitled ‘Doctors for the Living; Doctors for the Dead’, the lecture takes inspiration from Dr Richard Shepherd’s book The Seven Ages of Death, exploring the distinctions and common ground between doctors who care for the living and those whose work involves investigating death.

Drawing upon his experiences as both a neurosurgeon and Senior Coroner, Professor Marks will reflect on the professional, ethical and practical challenges associated with these roles. Through a selection of anonymised cases, he will consider how both disciplines, despite their differing responsibilities, share a fundamental commitment to serving the living and the dead.

The lecture (delivered by MS Teams) promises to offer valuable insights for coroners, coroners’ officers, legal and medical practitioners, academics, students and others interested in the coronial system and the investigation of death.

About the Leeming Lecture

Now in its ninth year, the Annual Leeming Lecture is held in memory of Professor Jennifer Leeming, founder and first Honorary Director of the Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law. Her commitment to advancing education, research and professional practice in coronial law continues to underpin the Centre’s work.

Further information and registration

The lecture is open to all with an interest in the subject, and everyone is warmly welcome to attend.

View the full event brochure

Register for the Ninth Annual Leeming Lecture

For further enquiries, please contact the Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law at Coroniallaw@greatermanchester.ac.uk.

We look forward to welcoming you to this year’s lecture.

Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law
University of Greater Manchester

R v Jerome Gibson [2026] EWCA Crim 1302, 22 September 2026, judgment here.

The Court of Appeal has issued a stark warning about the use of artificial intelligence in criminal proceedings after discovering that a police officer used Microsoft Copilot to generate a victim personal statement (‘VPS’) designed to maximise emotional impact and so influence the sentencing of an offender.

Whilst this is not a judgment arising from an inquest, given the unrelenting march of AI generated content already appearing in submissions in Coroner’s Courts this case nevertheless provides a stark early warning about the misuse of artificial intelligence (‘AI’) in any judicial forum.

Bains v Arsalan & Anor (Funeral Arrangements) [2026] EWHC 1597 (Fam), Peel J 23 June 2026. Judgment here

What happens when the person ordinarily entitled to arrange a child’s funeral is the person convicted of murdering her?

That was the issue Peel J had to consider in this case looking at the relationship between the forfeiture rule, the statutory power to pass over a prospective administrator and the court’s inherent jurisdiction.

The facts

Harleen, who had been born into the Sikh faith, was two months old when she died from catastrophic injuries. Her (unmarried) parents had been the only persons present when she was injured. Her mother, who had sole parental responsibility, gave what she later admitted was a false count that Harleen had wriggled out of her arms and fallen.   After Harleen’s father took his own life her mother changed her account to allege that he had assaulted both her and Harleen, knocked her unconscious and killed Harleen.

Six years after Harleen’s death her mother was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years. Harleen’s body had meanwhile remained unburied under the responsibility of the Coroner’s Office…

Re Margaret Drake’s Application for Judicial Review [2026] NICA 17 (judgment here)

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has revisited a tricky question in inquisitorial proceedings: when the bereaved have obtained their own expert report for an inquest and decide against relying upon it, can the coroner compel its production?

As is often the case, the answer is fact-sensitive, but on the facts of this case the Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the judge below and quashed the Coroner’s refusal to revoke a notice requiring a family’s expert report to be provided to her.

Although this was a decision interpreting sections 17A and 17B of the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959, given the symmetry between the Northern Irish statutory scheme and coronial powers in England and Wales, it is still highly persuasive and so the principles applied require close analysis by inquest practitioners and coroners in England and Wales.

Commencing Thursday 15^th October 2026

The Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law at the University of Greater Manchester has announced that the highly successful Coronial Law ‘Short Course’ will be offered again, starting on Thursday, 15^th October 2026.  All (seven) sessions are conducted live via Microsoft Teams from 18:00 to 20:30.

Designed for practitioners working in, with, or aspiring to join the coronial service, the course blends clear legal foundations with practical, court-facing learning to build confidence and understanding in relation to coronial investigations and inquests.  It is ideal for legal representatives, hospital coronial liaison staff, coroners’ officers, those seeking coronial roles, newly appointed coroners, and others involved in the investigation of deaths and the inquest process.

Course Schedule:

• 15 October 2026
  Lecture 1 – Introduction and Outline
  Alan Wilson HM Senior Coroner, Blackpool and Fylde

• 29 October 2026
  Lecture 2 – Jurisdiction and Investigations
  Professor Christopher Dorries OBE Retired HM Senior Coroner, South Yorkshire West
• 12 November 2026
  Lecture 3 – Seminar / Case Studies
  Professor Christopher Dorries OBE Retired HM Senior Coroner, South Yorkshire West
• 26 November 2026
  Lecture 4 – Inquests (Part I)
  Rachael Griffin HM Senior Coroner for Dorset
• 10 December 2026
  Lecture 5 – Inquests (Part II)
  Rachael Griffin HM Senior Coroner for Dorset
• 14 January 2027
  Lecture 6 – Article 2 Inquests
  Timothy Brennand HM Senior Coroner, Manchester West
• 28 January 2027
  Mock Inquest
  Course Faculty

Course Details

• All sessions will be conducted live via Microsoft Teams from 18:00 to 20:30.
• The cost is £50 per individual session, or £300 for the complete course.
• Participants may book the complete course (seven sessions) or select individual sessions according to their professional interests.
• An employer invoice booking option is also available for organisations wishing to pay by invoice.

To Book Your Place click here:  Book the Coronial Law Short Course

LLM Coronial Law – October 2026 Intake

The Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law also has a small number of places remaining on its LLM in Coronial Law commencing in October 2026.

The LLM is designed for those wishing to develop a more advanced and specialist understanding of coronial law, practice and death investigation.

Further information about the LLM, including entry requirements and how to apply can be found here or by contacting the Centre using the same contact details below.

Contact Information

For further information about the Coronial Law Short Course or the LLM in Coronial Law please contact:

Dr Alicia Danielsson
Head, Centre for Contemporary Coronial Law
University of Greater Manchester

Email: CoronialLaw@greatermanchester.ac.uk