Secret inquests battle at an end

originally published:
12th November 2009

Inquests into some deaths could be held in secret in future after Parliament approved the controversial proposal. It went through the Commons on Thursday after a series of concessions led to Tory peers dropping their opposition in the House of Lords on Wednesday.

The concessions include giving the lord chief justice the power to veto any requests for private inquests and also the power to decide who the judge is.

Ministers say secrecy may be needed in some cases for national security. They want the option of a secret inquest when evidence obtained by intelligence gathering is likely to play a prominent role in the inquest. But many MPs remain worried that holding some inquests in private rather than in public and in front of a jury gives the government too much power.

The measure, contained in the Coroners and Justice Bill, was formally approved by MPs on Thursday – the last day of the current parliamentary session – and will now go for Royal Assent.

The Conservatives abstained in a key vote on the bill in the Lords on Wednesday, meaning that a proposal for a public inquest to be held at the same time as a secret one was defeated.

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Posted by Larry Fedja on 17/11/2009. Filed under Policy & Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry