The Weekly Law Reports
[2008] 3 WLR 1284
Queen’s Bench Division
Regina (Smith)
v
Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner
Regina (Secretary of State for Defence)
v
Same
[2008] EWHC 694 (Admin)
2008 March 17;
April 11
April 11
Collins J
Coroner— Inquest— Verdict— Soldier dying of hyperthermia while on duty in Iraq— Coroner’s narrative verdict stating death caused by serious failure to address deceased’s difficulty in adjusting to climate— Whether breaching prohibition against determining questions of civil liability—
Coroners Rules 1984 (SI 1984/552), r 42(b)
[1]
Human rights— Right to life— State’s duty to investigate death— Soldier dying of hyperthermia whilst carrying out duties off base in Iraq— Whether death of soldier within scope of Human Rights Convention or of legislation giving domestic effect to Convention— Whether procedural requirements implicit in Convention right to life applying to inquest into soldier’s death— Extent of requirement to disclose relevant material to interested parties— Whether practice of routinely redacting names from statements to or reports of army boards of inquiry prior disclosure justified—
Human Rights Act 1998 (c 42), Sch 1, Pt I, art 2
[2]
—
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1953) (Cmd 8969), art 1
[3]
Law reform— Whether necessary— Coroners Rules— Inquest required to comply with procedural requirements implicit in Convention right to life— Whether necessary to change rules prohibiting address on facts or determination of question of civil liability