Skip to content

Hertfordshire County Council

An inquest will be held if it was not possible to find out the cause of death from the post-mortem examination, the death is found to be unnatural or the death occurred whilst the deceased was in detention.

The inquest process is a fact-finding, rather than fault-finding, process to help the coroner establish the cause of death and the appropriate legal conclusion.

The 4 questions the coroner considers as part of their inquest are:

  • who the deceased was
  • where, when and how the death occurred.

How the death occurred is usually the focus of the inquest and means ‘by what means’ the death occurred. It isn't within the role of the coroner to look into potential issues regarding matters of negligence.

At the end of the inquest the coroner completes a ‘Record of Inquest’. This contains details about the deceased for the purposes of registering of the death.

 

Inquests take place at:

Hertfordshire Coroner Service
The Old Courthouse
St Albans Road East
Hatfield
Hertfordshire
AL10 0ES

Map and directions



 

Support for families

The Coroners' Court Support Service, a registered charity, offers support and advice to families and witnesses going to inquests.

The Coroners' Courts Support Service 
Victoria Charity Centre
11 Belgrave Road
London
SW1V 1RB 

Call 0300 111 2141 or email info@ccsupport.org.uk.

 

Interim Certificates of Cause of Death

The coroner will issue 6 ‘Coroner’s Interim Certificates of Death’ once an inquest has been opened or an investigation formally commenced.  This allows the funeral to be organised and to enable administration of the estate.

 

Pre-Inquest Review Hearing

Sometimes a Pre-Inquest Review Hearing will be needed if there are particular issues of law or procedure that need to be determined by the coroner before the final inquest, for example:

  • the witnesses who need to give evidence
  • the time, date and place of the final inquest
  • how long the inquest is likely to last
  • whether a jury will be needed
  • whether any other hearings are needed.

 

Who can attend an inquest?

The inquest is a matter of public record.  The public are entitled to attend an inquest and the press can potentially attend too.

All interested parties (people entitled to take part and ask the witnesses questions) are entitled to be represented by lawyers at the inquest or any pre-inquest hearings. However, most inquests are conducted without any lawyers being involved.

 

What happens after an inquest?

The coroner will register the death with the registrar for the district where the death happened. The family may then apply for a death certificate through the registrar by completing an application form provided at the conclusion of the inquest.

Some inquests lead to court proceedings and in such cases the inquest will be adjourned. When the accused perpetrator is committed to crown court to be tried, the coroner can issue documentation to enable the death to be formally registered. After the criminal proceedings have been completed the coroner will decide whether the inquest will be resumed or closed.

Inquest files are archived. Information is available to family members and close friends. Contact the coroner service at coroner.service@hertfordshire.gov.uk or 01707 292707 with your enquiry.

Rate this page

Cookies

Like many other websites, we place small information files called 'cookies' on your computer.

Why do we use cookies?

To remember your settings, for example your language and location. This means you don’t have to keep entering these details when you visit a new page.

To find out how you use the site to help us update and improve it.

How do I change my cookie settings?

You can change the settings of your web browser so that it won’t accept cookies. For more information visit AboutCookies.org.

But, doing this may stop you from using some of the online features and services on this website. 

Cookies we use

Cookies do a lot of different jobs, and we use 2 types of cookies:

Required functionality cookies – these cookies are essential for the website to work.

Performance and feature cookies – these cookies help to improve the performance and feel of this website, for example providing you with personalised services.


Take a look at a list of cookies we use on our website:

NameTypeHow we use itHow long we use the information for

ASP.Net_Sessions

 

Required functionality

An automatic cookie set by our software. 

Just for the time you are on our website.

ServerID

 

Required functionality

An automatic cookie set by our software. 

Just for the time you are on our website.

_ga

Required functionality

To track the effectiveness of our website using Google Analytics. 

2 years

saved-pages

Performance and feature

To save the pages that you visit by clicking the heart at the top of the page. 

1 month

geoPostcode

Performance and feature

This stores your postcode (or partial postcode) when we ask you for your location.

Just for the time you are on our website or 30 days (you choose this).

geoCoordinates

Performance and feature

This stores your location as a pair of latitude / longitude coordinates.

Just for the time you are on our website or 30 days (you choose this).

reckonerName-history

Performance and feature

This keeps a history of all answers submitted to the ready reckoner.

This is set in the control for each ready reckoner. If you haven't interacted with the ready reckoner for the set amount of days, the cookies are deleted.

reckonerName-content

Performance and feature

This keeps a history of what content cards are clicked on when using the ready reckoner.

This is set in the control for each ready reckoner. If you haven't interacted with the ready reckoner for the set amount of days, the cookies are deleted.

SQ_SYSTEM_SESSION

Required functionality

This used to track user sessions on forms hosted on eservices.hertfordshire.gov.uk

Just for the time you are on our website.


Third party cookies

There are links and content from other sites and services on our website. These sites and services set their own cookies.

Below are a list of cookies that the other sites and services use:

Service namePurposeMore information

Google analytics (_utma/b/c/z)

These are used to compile reports for us on how people use this site.

Cookies of the same names are also used for the same purpose by other websites such as Building FuturesCountryside Management Service and Hertfordshire LIS.

Visit the Google Analytics website for more information about the cookies they use.

You can prevent data from being collected and used by Google Analytics by installing Google's Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Google Translation - googtrans

This cookie is used to remember which language to translate each page into if you have chosen to do so.

It expires at the end of your browser session.

Bing

We use a Bing cookie to track the success of our marketing campaigns and make them more efficient.

Visit Bing to find out more about their cookies.

Google

We use a Google cookie to track the success of our marketing campaigns and make them more efficient.

Visit Google to find out more about their cookies.

Facebook

We have a number of presences on Facebook, which we may link to. Facebook may set some of its own cookies if you follow these links.

Visit Facebook to find out more about their cookies.

Twitter

We have a number of presences and feeds on Twitter, which you may wish to follow or read from this website. Twitter may set some of its own cookies.

Visit Twitter to find out more about their cookies.

YouTube

We have a YouTube channel, which we may link to. YouTube may set some of its own cookies if you follow those links.

Visit YouTube to find out more about their cookies.

Netloan

This ASP.NET_Sessionid cookie is essential for the Netloan secure online payments website to work, and is set when you arrive to the site. This cookie is deleted when you close your browser.

 

HotJar

This session cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate funnels.

Visit HotJar to find out more about their cookies.

Siteimprove

These cookies are set to help us report on how people are using the site so we can improve it.

Visit Siteimprove to learn more about their cookies.