The value of a Coroner’s inquest in opening up matters to public scrutiny is clearly demonstrated by this highly unusual application by the Chief Executive of the IPCC in R (IPCC) v IPCC [2016] EWHC 2993 (Admin) who, following a searching inquest, brought proceedings against his own organisation to overturn its flawed report into police conduct.
The Police Appeals Tribunal should take care not to go behind clearly expressed statements made by police hearings tribunals. It should also take care as to the order of witnesses where hearsay evidence is being admitted: Squire v (1) The Queen (CC Thames Valley Police) (2) PAT [2016] EWCA Civ 1315.
Senior Coroners still smarting from being described as holding “a relatively lower judicial office” by Mr Justice Singh in the Norfolk Coroner v AAIB case last month have now been dealt a second blow by Cranston J when he made it very clear in Secretary of State for the Home Dept v Senior Coroner for Surrey [2016] EWHC 3001 (Admin) that not only are Senior Coroners, as a category, not among those able to see sensitive material related to issues of national security, but that the Secretary of State can rely upon the assertion of a general policy not to provide Coroners with such material and so does not have to provide any evidence that disclosure to the particular Coroner will in itself result in a real risk of serious harm to national security.
In R (Darren Williams) v Police Appeals Tribunal [2016] EWHC 2708 (QB), Mr Justice Holroyde was asked to consider whether ‘the Salter principle’ – that personal mitigation carries diminished weight in cases of police or professional misconduct – applies to all breaches of professional standards, not just honesty and integrity. He found that it did – but that all mitigation must properly be weighed and considered.
How can the police obtain a suspect’s medical records pre-charge? Pre-charge it is not possible to obtain a witness summons under s.2 of the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965.
Can a Production Order under Sch 1 para 4 of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (‘PACE’) be applied for instead? The answer seems to be “No”.