The government should act to resolve iniquities at the heart of the inquest system, says Jon Robins
Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done—whether or not it raises awkward questions about, say, the Met’s response to the terrorist threat in our capital. Over the last week there has rightly been alarm in the press around the potential iniquity of inquests being run behind closed doors, away from families, jurors and members of the media. One hopes that the prospect of an inquest such as the one into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes is self-evidently appalling.
Following a question by the Tory MP Roger Gale, the Ministry of Justice provided a startling statistic last week revealing an iniquity that is already exists at the heart of the inquest system. It is an issue that the Coroners and Justice Bill misses: the lack of public funding available for many inquests.
Only 7% of the families of service personnel killed in Afghanistan or Iraq have received legal aid to pay for representation at their inquests into their deaths.
