Remote observation of hearings

Open justice

The Coroner’s Service welcomes and supports transparency of court proceedings. Inquest and Pre-Inquest Review hearings in the jurisdiction will generally be held in open court with members of the public and the media all welcome to attend. Where practicable a designated area in the court room will be allocated for members of the press.

The Coroners Service will ensure that all hearings (including those that are conducted, in part, using remote means) are held in open court with appropriate public access, save in those rare cases where Rule 11(4) and 11(5) Coroners (Inquest) Rules 2013 applies.

Remote observation

Pursuant to section 85A of the Courts Act 2003, and the Remote Observation and Recording (Courts and Tribunals) Regulations 2022, remote observation of inquest proceedings by public and media via a live streamed video link is now permissible in Coroners' courts.

There is however no right in law to observe a hearing remotely by live link. Individual members of the press and public are entitled to apply for permission to do so, but all applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Applications to attend remotely

Any application to attend a hearing remotely must be made in writing by completing the remote access attendance form no later than 12 noon two working days before the proceedings commence.  All applications must include the reasons being put forward as to why remote access should be granted.

The Coroner will then consider any application received and will permit remote attendance if satisfied that it would be in the interests of justice, there is the capacity and technological capability to enable it, and it would not create an unreasonable administrative burden on the court.

Considerations

The interests of justice are very broad, being wider than the circumstances of the individual case and holding an effective hearing. They include the efficient despatch of business overall and the availability of Coroners, Coroner’s Officers, additional staff, technical equipment, and other resources.

In particular, individuals seeking remote attendance will need to explain why it would be in the interests of justice to allow them to observe a hearing remotely when there is the option to attend the court in person.

The Chief Coroner has advised in recent guidance that remote attendance should not normally be permitted purely because a person would prefer it or it would be more convenient.

Remote links for observers only 

Where a hearing is to be attended in person by all the Interested Persons and their representatives there will be no need to establish be a remote link for any participant. 

In such circumstances, given the court room will be open and available to all, the administrative burden of establishing a ‘virtual public gallery’ only for the purposes of livestreaming to press and public is unlikely to be in the interests of justice, unless there are particular circumstances identified in the application that might demand a remote link to be set up solely for public and press observation. In all cases each application will be judged on its own merits whilst taking account of recent judicial guidance.