Of all the results of the bonfire of the quangos, the strangest abolition was to be that of the office of Chief Coroner, which had been created by statute, but had not been filled. The Royal British Legion has managed to persuade the Lord Chancellor to perform a partial volte face by restoring the office as a leader and standard setter for Coroners, but Mr Clarke will not bring into force the proposed role as court of appeal against decisions made by Coroners (judicial review and AG's fiat will remain the appeal route). Having appeared in front of a constellation of different Coroners, I can personally testify to the urgent need to introduce measures to standardise service and standards. At the moment it is a ridiculous post code lottery, with some Coroners investigating particular types of death, whilst others ignore whole swathes of deaths which need an inquest. Well done RBL!
