Do not:
- Spend more than a day a week on appraising coroners’ inquest files.
- Work alone unless unavoidable except for brief periods or single sessions
- Look at photographs unless unavoidable /necessary
Do:
- Look through the Notes of Evidence file methodically.
- Check the name, age, address, and occupation of the person on the front of the file.
- Check the cause of death and verdict on the back of the file.
- Look at the Coroner’s Officer’s General Report (usually at the front of the file)
- Look at the Post-mortem Examination
- Always look through the file to see if there is more detail in the remaining documents. It is only when doing this that nuances become apparent which enable the appraiser to make an informed decision starting with the criteria but based on all the available information. It also enables trivial files to be weeded out
Documents to look out for include:
- Witness statements;
- Expert depositions, statements, reports, and correspondence;
- Suicide notes;
- Transcripts of proceedings (especially Coroner’s summing up);
- Newspaper cuttings, subsequent correspondence.
MAKE YOUR DECISION to keep or destroy based on the criteria supplemented by the information obtained as above.