NEW from Legal Action Group books
Publication date: 1 October 2002
Inquests
a practitioner’s guide
by Leslie Thomas, Danny Friedman and Louise Christian

There are few things as traumatic as the sudden death of a loved one. When that death occurs as a result of misconduct or negligence by a public body, the bereaved are faced with another powerful emotion – an overwhelming desire to discover the truth as to how and why their loved one died.

The practitioner called on to represent grieving families and friends is faced with a real responsibility – but, until now, no specialist text has been available to guide them through the complex process that lies ahead.

Covering:
•	overview of the inquest system
•	impact of the Human Rights Act
•	coroner – types, staff and duties
•	reporting a death
•	the post-mortem
•	action on behalf of the deceased’s family
•	funding the inquest
•	
October 2002
•	544pp
•	paperback
•	0 905099 97 4
•	£42

conference with the advocate
•	pre-inquest hearings
•	the hearing 
•	the jury
•	the verdict
•	the European Convention on Human Rights
•	controversial deaths: special cases
•	post-inquest remedies
•	reform

Inquests: a practitioner’s guide is doubly unique. It is the first text to examine the practice and procedure of the coroner’s court from the standpoint of a practitioner acting for the bereaved. But, further, it lends a powerful voice to the debate for a more humane and effective inquest system, where the human rights of victims and their families are properly respected.

The authors:
Leslie Thomas is a barrister at 2 Garden Court chambers. He has been involved in representing families in restraint related deaths, police shootings, and deaths in custody.  He has been counsel for the bereaved families in a large number of inquests including Wayne Douglas, James Brady, Ibrahim Sey, Michael Fitzgerald, Nicholas Ingledew, Nathan Delahunty, Christopher Alder, and Martin Ward. Several of his inquest cases are pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
Danny Friedman is a barrister at Matrix chambers. He specialises in civil liberties, human rights, criminal law and due process. He was counsel in Keenan v UK and R (Wright and Bennett) v Secretary of State for the Home Department. He is co-author of Guide to the Police Act (Butterworth, 1998) and is a contributing editor on Human Rights Practice (Sweet and Maxwell). 
Louise Christian is a partner at Christian Fisher Khan. She specialises in public law and human rights, disaster cases and corporate accountability law. She acted for all the Marchioness families in the 1995 inquest, helping them for 10 years to campaign for an inquiry. She represented the victims of the Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield and Potters Bar rail crashes. Inquest cases include Wayne Douglas and Ricky Reel and various Brixton prison death cases.
For more information call: 020 7833 7424, fax 020 7837 6094 or e-mail books@lag.org.uk