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Category:
History & Society
- Related Topics:
- procedural law
- medical examiner
- coroner
- coroner’s jury
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Apr. 10, 2024, 8:29 PM ET (ABC News (Australia))
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Sarah Adams inquest: Psychiatric patient took own life day after discharge
inquest, judicial inquiry by a group of persons appointed by a court. The most common type is the inquest set up to investigate a death apparently occasioned by unnatural means. Witnesses are examined, and a special jury returns a verdict on the cause of death. In England inquests are also required when there is loss or injury in a fire. The inquest is confined to common-law jurisdictions that have a coroner system.
Although the European civil-law system has a long tradition of the use of medical evidence and professional witnesses in court, it has no procedure similar to the inquest. See also coroner’s jury.