COVID-19 Deaths - Inquests & the Coroner’s Role

Introduction

This new webinar will cover all aspects of inquest law in the context of COVID-19, including which deaths will require an inquest and what issues Coroners’ Courts will be required to investigate.

The webinar will also examine the Chief Coroner’s controversial guidance on COVID-19 deaths and possible exposure in the workplace.

It will cover the conditions for engagement and the content of the investigative duty under Article 2, as well as the effect Article 2 has on scope, conclusions and causation in inquests.

The webinar will focus particularly on issues relating to personal protective equipment, safe workplaces and systems and Article 2.

It will provide a practical guide for representatives of families, employers and institutions on how the inquest system should work in a COVID-19 case.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Reporting:
• When must a COVID-19 death be reported to a coroner?
• Reporting cases of COVID-19 contracted at work to the coroner
• Jurisdiction:
• When must a coroner open an investigation into a COVID-19 death?
• Which COVID-19 deaths will be considered to be ‘unnatural’ for the purposes of Article 2?
• When will COVID-19 workplace deaths be investigated?
• Scope:
• What issues are likely to be investigated in a COVID-19 death?
• Can coroners investigate the provision of PPE in the workplace?
• COVID-19 inquests, safe systems and policies
• COVID-19 deaths and Article 2
• Article 2 and inquests relating to the provision of PPE
• Article 2 inquests, safe systems and policies
• Conclusions:
• What inquest conclusions are likely to be reached in a COVID-19 inquest?
• What are the causation requirements for inquest conclusions?
• How can one prove that workplace exposure caused a death?
• Article 2 conclusions in COVID-19 cases
• Reports to prevent future deaths in COVID-19 cases
• Arguments for and against COVID-19 inquests

This webinar was recorded on 27th January 2021