Author: Bridget Dolan QC

Posts by Bridget Dolan QC

Open justice in Coroners Courts: Why Black Lives (and deaths) should Matter

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Chief Constable West Yorks Police v Dyer & Assistant Coroner for West Yorkshire & others [2020] EWCA Civ 1375 Judicial endorsement that Black Lives Matter sends an important message to all. Whilst our British judges might never be expected to deliver as hard hitting and politicised a judgment as that handed down by the wonderful […]

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Art 2 inquest required where a ‘credible suggestion’ of a breach of substantive rights

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R (Skelton) v Senior Coroner for West Sussex and the Chief Constable of Sussex Police & Robert Trigg (interested parties) [2020] EWHC 2813 (Admin) Determining whether Art 2 procedural obligations are engaged at an inquest can be one of the most challenging legal questions in the coronial jurisdiction. The issue for a coroner is not […]

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Impermissible to challenge a criminal conviction at a fresh inquest

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R (Skelton) v Senior Coroner for West Sussex and the Chief Constable of Sussex Police & Robert Trigg (interested parties) [2020] EWHC 2813 (Admin) Whilst many will be unsurprised to be told that a fresh inquest cannot reach a verdict inconsistent with an earlier homicide conviction, it is nevertheless reassuring to learn that a statutory […]

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An equivocal admission pre-inquest will not prevent costs being recovered

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Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service v Veevers [2020] EWHC 2550 (Comm) Can a family’s inquest costs be recovered in a subsequent civil claim if an admission has been made prior to the inquest? If the admission has in fact been informal or equivocal, the answer may well be yes. The background This claim arose […]

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