Death in Custody

Death in Custody considers the participation of bereaved families in an inquest following a death in custody. It looks at the legal frameworks governing participation, as well as relevant theories of justice, participation, procedural fairness and grief theory. Interviews were carried out with people with personal experience of complex inquests, including bereaved family members.  Participation can provide families with redress and allow them to represent the deceased, as well as being an important part of their grief process. It also helps to ensure a fair process, which has a positive impact on accountability and legitimacy. Family participation improves accountability by maximising the chance of achieving the right outcome via scrutiny, therefore identifying failures. Families also brings balance to the process, provide vital information about the deceased as well as helping to ensure that lessons are learned that will prevent future deaths.  Death in Custody shows that procedural justice theory is relevant for participation in processes investigating human rights violations. It includes key recommendations on how to ensure participation can be fair and effective.

Dr. Jo Easton has worked in various policy and research roles for charities, focusing on the issues of criminal law and human rights. She currently works for a small charity working in the justice system, leading their policy and research work and managing a team of policy, research and communications staff. She has written numerous articles on topics relating to rehabilitation and the court process, including pieces for Political Quarterly and Probation Quarterly. She carried out the academic research for this book part-time, completing a PhD in Human Rights Law at Essex University. She is passionate about using policy and the law to bring about a fairer society.