Voicing loss: Meanings and implications of participation by bereaved people in inquests

In partnership with the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, ICPR is conducting research on the role of bereaved people in inquests. By means of empirical investigation and policy analysis, the study is addressing the following questions:

1. How is the status and role of the bereaved at inquests defined in law and policy, and what are bereaved people’s own expectations and experiences of inquests? 
2. To what extent, in what ways and circumstances and for what purposes should bereaved people be ‘at the heart’ of the coronial process and have an active role in inquest proceedings? 
3. What policy and practice changes would support inclusion and involvement of bereaved people in inquests (and, potentially, other kinds of legal proceedings) in ways that are attuned to social and legal norms as well as the expectations of the bereaved themselves?

The research started in May 2021 and is due to be completed in April 2024.

Further information about this project can be found here