Reforming the Coroner

The King's Coroner

Coroner overruled: time for reform?

As pressure mounts for a change in the way coroners' inquests are conducted more challenges to inquest verdicts are reaching the high court. Last month, quashing the jury's verdict in an inquest described by Mr Justice Peter Pain as "hopelessly flawed," the court recognised "lack of care" as a possible verdict in appropriate cases and clarified the ambit ofthe verdict in cases in which medical ...

Reforming the coroner's service.

the Seeing the Difference project in California (http:// seeingthedifference.berkeley.edu/) brought together artists, humanists, and medical professionals to decon-struct the representations and realities of death, literally opening up new " ways of seeing " death and dying. The medical view, for example, takes the body as literal: an entity on which to implement physical and psychological chan...

Reforming the Development Process

Recognition of the importance of innovation and, consequently, design and design planning has led to greatly expanded research in the methods of design and planning. This in turn has resulted in fast evolving planning techniques and a need for a higher level planning function in the development process—metaplanning. Metaplanning is the planning of the planning process, an activity that involves...

Reporting biochemical toxicology to the coroner must be improved.

Biochemical toxicology for the coroner should encompass a wide ranging analytical screen for drugs and toxic compounds. A multidisciplinary case conference in appropriate complex cases must become the norm to furnish the coroner with expert advice where toxicology is a factor in the cause of death. A networked Institute of Forensic Services in Ireland should be formed to integrate toxicology, c...