Glossary

Chief Coroner	is the judicial Head of Coroner Services in England and Wales, responsible for setting national standards of service, training Coroners and their officers and other staff and issuing guidance to them. The Chief Coroner has a number of roles but his main responsibilities are to: •provide support, leadership and guidance for Coroners in England and Wales; •set national standards for all Coroners; •develop training for Coroners and their staff; •approve Coroner appointments; •keep a register of Coroner investigations lasting more than 12 months and take steps to reduce unnecessary delays; •monitor investigations into deaths of service personnel; •oversee transfers of cases between Coroners; •direct Coroners to conduct investigations; •provide an annual report on the Coroner system to the Lord Chancellor, to be laid before Parliament; and •collate and monitor Coroners' reports to authorities to prevent future deaths
Conclusion	is the decision the Coroner (or jury) reaches at the end of an inquest about how someone died. The conclusion is recorded on a 'record of an inquest' form which includes the legal 'determination' and 'findings' (see below). It may comprise one of the following 'short form' conclusions: accident or misadventure; alcohol/drug related; industrial disease; lawful/unlawful killing; natural causes; open; road traffic collision; stillbirth; or suicide. An open conclusion may be given if there is insufficient evidence to enable the Coroner or the jury to reach one of the other conclusions. Sometimes the Coroner or jury may record a more detailed 'narrative' conclusion about the death.
Coroner's Office	includes any member of the office of the Coroner who is investigating the death. It could be the Coroner, Area Coroner, Assistant Coroner, a Coroner's officer, or any other member of staff in the office. It also includes a Coroner's officer or other staff member who is based on different premises to the Coroner they support.
Determination	is the decision (reached by the Coroner or jury as appropriate) about the identity of the deceased and how, when and where he or she came by his or her death (as required under Sections 5 and 10 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009).
Findings	are the particulars about a death that the Coroner establishes to enable the death to be registered (under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953).
Forensic Post Mortem Examinations	are carried out by Home Office registered forensic pathologists to assist in the investigation of violent or suspicious deaths. These pathologists work within regional group practices, which are independent of the Police, Coroners and the Home Office. They may be self employed or employed by a university hospital or a hospital trust.
Inform	means giving information by leaflet, letter, email, telephone call, via a website or in person.
Inquest or Inquest Hearing	is a fact finding inquiry in court (or alternative premises) conducted by a Coroner to establish who has died, and how, when and where the death occurred. It forms part of the Coroner's investigation. An inquest does not establish any matter of criminal or civil liability. It does not seek to blame anyone or apportion blame between people or organisations.
Interested Person	is identified in Section 47(2) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 as follows: •a spouse, civil partner, partner, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, child of a brother or sister, stepfather, stepmother, half brother or half sister; •a personal representative of the deceased; •a medical examiner exercising functions in relation to the death of the deceased; •a beneficiary of a life insurance policy on the deceased; •a person who may by any act or omission have caused or contributed to the death, or whose employee or agent may have done so; •a representative from a trade union to whom the deceased belonged at the time of death (if the death may have been caused by an injury received in the course of the person's employment, or was due to industrial disease); •a person appointed by, or representative of, an enforcing authority; •the chief constable (where they may have been a homicide offence); •a Provost Marshal (where there may have been a service homicide offence; •the Independent Police Complaints Commission (where the death is the subject of an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission); •a person appointed by a Government department to attend the inquest or to assist in, or provide evidence to the investigation; or •anyone else who the Coroner thinks has a sufficient interest
Investigation	is the process by which the Coroner establishes who has died, and how, when and where the death occurred. It may include a post mortem examination and an inquest.
Next of Kin	means the person identified by the Coroner or Coroner's office to act as the main point of contact to receive information.
Other Type of State Detention	refers to where detainees are compulsorily detained by a public authority within the meaning of Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998(http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/section/(6), such as those in a mental hospital/establishment or immigration centre.
Pathologist	is a medical professional who specialises in the diagnosis of disease after death and identifying the causes of death. He or she carries out post mortem examinations.
Post Mortem Examination	is a detailed medical examination of the body that takes place after death and is generally conducted by a Pathologist. The purpose of the post mortem examination is to establish the medical cause of death.
Pre Inquest Review	is a hearing (usually held in public) that the Coroner may hold in advance of the inquest in order to decide matters such as the scope and date of the inquest and which witnesses and evidence he or she plans to call and use. The Coroner may also set out what else he or she needs in order to complete preparations for the inquest.
Witness	is someone who gives evidence, or whose statement is read, at an inquest under oath or affirmation in order to establish who the deceased was, and how, when and where he or she died.
Working Day	means any day, except where a designated bank holiday, between Monday and Friday.

Glossary

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