Sayra Tekin, legal director at the News Media Association, has welcomed a coroner’s decision to revisit a ruling, after a challenge from the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crispin Butler, the HM Senior Coroner for Buckinghamshire, announced last October that an inquest into the death of Graham Robert Whelan, who passed away at his home in Wendover last year, would be “completed in writing” without an oral hearing unless reasonable objections were raised. Charlie Moloney, a local freelance journalist and media law trainer, wrote to the coroner asking for a copy of the ruling, his findings of fact and any documents referred to during the inquest, which the coroner refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coroner later reevaluated his decision, with Moloney receiving a response stating that findings “can and should be disclosed in this case in response to a legitimate request by a bona fide member of the press.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to this decision, Sayra Tekin said: “We welcome the senior coroner’s decision to reassess the initial ruling and support disclosure, reaffirming the fundamental principles of open justice and the public\u2019s right to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDenying disclosure would have set a dangerous precedent, undermining transparency in coronial courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTransparency is crucial to maintaining public trust. It ensures journalists have the access they need to serve as the public\u2019s eyes and ears – reporting contemporaneously and without obstruction, safeguarding the uninterrupted flow of vital information to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Media Lawyers Association also stressed the public interest in accessibility to coroner documents to uphold open justice: “We welcome the senior coroner\u2019s decision to review the initial decision and to rule in favour of disclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There is a strong public interest in such documents being made available to the public and to the media under the open justice principle because it enables the public to understand the coroner\u2019s findings and the circumstances in which people have died.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sayra Tekin, legal director at the News Media Association, has welcomed a coroner’s decision to revisit a ruling, after a challenge from the media. Crispin Butler, the HM Senior Coroner for Buckinghamshire, announced last October that an inquest into the death of Graham Robert Whelan, who passed away at his home in Wendover last year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-pressfreedom","news","pressfreedom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n