Coroners court and directions to juries in Article 2 inquests.

Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) protects the Right to Life that is invoked in an inquest where the diseased has expired in circumstances of custody or control by an agency of state. The High Court in 2012 ordered the second inquest in the Hillsborough case where the correct directions to the jury were read as to when there is a breach of such a duty. The inquest findings resulted in criminal charges being brought against two former senior police officers, who were indicted linked to the disaster. This paper examines the inquest process where there is a jury and considers the framework of the Coroners Court in the context of Article 2 where death has occurred under circumstances of duress.