07 June 2019
Legacy Inquest Review
Mrs Justice Keegan, the
Presiding Coroner, today held a listing of all the outstanding legacy inquests
in the Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast.
The purpose was to provide an
update on the work that is being taken forward by the Legacy Inquest Unit to
progress the legacy inquests following the announcement that funding is being provided to implement the Lord Chief
Justice’s plan.
Mrs Justice Keegan spoke
about the review she is leading to follow up on the work undertaken by Lord
Justice Weir when he carried out a comprehensive review of the legacy cases in
February 2016. She announced that she intends to carry out
preliminary hearings in each case in September 2019 to establish the state of
readiness and to consider the approach that may be taken in relation to the
sequencing of inquest hearings. The
legal representatives for the families and the relevant agencies have been
asked to provide an update on each case to the Presiding Coroner in advance of
these hearings.
The Presiding Coroner said
she is keen to ensure that legacy inquest cases are prepared for hearing
expeditiously and that disclosure issues are identified early and, through
collaboration and dialogue, that reasonable and proportionate solutions are
found.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1.
Information about legacy inquests can be found
on the JudiciaryNI website (https://judiciaryni.uk/legacy-inquests)
2.
An inquest is an inquiry into the circumstances of a death. The purpose of the inquest is to find out who
the deceased person was and how, when and where they died and to provide the
details needed for their death to be registered. It is not a trial. It is not for the Coroner to decide, or
appear to decide, any question of criminal or civil liability or to apportion
guilt or attribute blame.
3.
Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights imposes a positive
duty to investigate deaths in which State agents may be implicated. The European Court of Human Rights as
established that in order to satisfy the requirements of Article 2, any
investigation must be independent, prompt and proceed with reasonable
expedition, be open to public scrutiny, involve the next of kin of the deceased
and be capable of leading to a determination of whether any force used was
justified and to the identification and punishment of those responsible for the
death. Case law has determined that an
inquest satisfies this investigatory obligation.
ENDS