When a death is investigated by a coroner, what is the place of the family in that process?
This accessibly written book draws together empirical, theoretical and historical perspectives to develop a rich, nuanced analysis of the contemporary inquest system in England and Wales. It investigates theories of kinship drawn from socio-legal research and analyses law, accountability and the legal process.
Excerpts of conversations with coroners and officers offer real insights into how the role of family can be understood and who family is perceived to be, and further, how their participation fundamentally shapes the investigation into a death.
Recently, there has been a global resurgence of demands for the acknowledgement of historical and contemporary wrongs, as well as for apologies and reparation for harms suffered.
Drawing on the histories of injustice, dispossession and violence in South Africa, this book examines the cultural, political and legal role and value of an apology. It examines the multiple ways in which ‘sorry’ is instituted, articulated and performed, and critically analyses its various forms and functions in both historical and contemporary moments. Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of contributors, the book’s analysis offers insights which will be invaluable to global debates on the struggle for justice.
Article 2 has impacted on inquests, with a focus on ‘the product and not the content of the investigation’ 59 where it is engaged, as opposed to ‘what must happen in a medical case. Beyond an obligation to provide a cause of death, no further investigation is required of the state’s own motion by article 2’. 60 The context was a decision about whether the failings in medical treatment provided to Jackie Maguire required the inquest to reach a conclusion which explored the wider circumstances of her death. Jackie Maguire had cognitive disabilities, lived in a
