The Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013

PART 3 Disclosure

12.  This Part applies to the disclosure of documents by the coroner during or after the course of an investigation, pre-inquest review or inquest.

Disclosure of documents at the request of an interested person

13.—(1) Subject to rule 15, where an interested person asks for disclosure of a document held by the coroner, the coroner must provide that document or a copy of that document, or make the document available for inspection by that person as soon as is reasonably practicable.

(2) Documents to which this rule applies include—

(a) any post-mortem examination report;

(b) any other report that has been provided to the coroner during the course of the investigation;

(c) where available, the recording of any inquest hearing held in public, but not in relation to any part of the hearing from which the public was excluded under rule 11(4) or (5);

(d) any other document which the coroner considers relevant to the inquest.

Managing disclosure

14.  A coroner may—

(a) disclose an electronic copy of a document instead of, or in addition to, a paper copy;

(b) disclose a redacted version of all or part of a document; or

(c) make a document available for inspection at a particular time and place.

Restrictions on disclosure

15.  A coroner may refuse to provide a document or a copy of a document requested under rule 13 where—

(a) there is a statutory or legal prohibition on disclosure;

(b) the consent of any author or copyright owner cannot reasonably be obtained;

(c) the request is unreasonable;

(d) the document relates to contemplated or commenced criminal proceedings; or

(e) the coroner considers the document irrelevant to the investigation.

Costs of disclosure

16.  A coroner may not charge a fee for any document or copy of any document, disclosed to an interested person before or during an inquest(1).

(1)

Fees may be charged for disclosure after an inquest has been completed in accordance with the Coroners Allowances, Fees and Expenses Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1615).