Attending an inquest hearing

If you have been granted permission by His Majesty’s Coroner to join a hearing via a link (remote participation/video link) please read and understand the following points -

• although you are not physically in court, your location is regarded as an extension of the court room, as such all the rules within a court room apply
• you must be in a private location
• please check your background is appropriate
• it is a contempt of court, punishable by imprisonment, for any person to record, publish or take pictures of the court hearing or any part of it by any means. Under no circumstances should you attempt to use the record function on Microsoft Teams – this would also be contempt of court
• dress appropriately for court
• keep your microphone on mute unless asking or answering questions
• you may be advised to turn your camera off at times you are not asking questions, this assists the link connection
• do not interrupt, if absolutely necessary state your name first. If you repeatedly interrupt your microphone will be put on mute by the court officer.
• if you are a witness you must have your statement and relevant evidence to hand
• do not use the hearing to try to speak to others on the call apart from the coroner or when invited to ask questions of witnesses
• do not eat or drink (except a glass of water) or smoke
• turn your telephone off or place it on silent (not vibrate)
• if you are in a home location do not answer the door/telephone or carry out other tasks during the hearing
• do not use the chat function to write messages (unless you are alerting the court officer to a problem with your connection)
• do not use the “hands up” function.
• be respectful to the court staff and all participants
• if your connection fails and you are unable to join the hearing please contact us via the details provided
• if the link fails, for any reason, we will attempt and give time for you to rejoin. If this is not possible and you are -
  • a witness you are expected to attend the court in person to complete your evidence
  • an interested person, you must be aware that if the link fails, for any reason, and you have not made provision to attend the inquest in person, the hearing may proceed in your absence