Alex Frodsham is an experienced advocate, and is a member of the Oriel Chambers Inquests and Inquiries Team. He sits as an Assistant Coroner in Cheshire and in Manchester West.
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Ten years after it was first introduced, the Coroner’s “Bench Book” has been updated. Now known as the “Chief Coroner’s Guidance for Coroners on the Bench”, on Friday 24th January 2025 the resource was published online, and can be found here:

Chief Coroner's Guidance for Coroners on the Bench - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Inquest practitioners will be aware of the importance of familiarity with the Chief Coroner’s Guidance and Law Sheets (also available to the public online, and which supplement statutory enactments and case law). This additional guidance, to be referred to as “the Bench Guidance”, is expressed to hold “the same status as the Chief Coroner’s existing guidance notes and law sheets, and has been issued to promote consistency and encourage best practice”.

Importantly, and significantly, the Bench Guidance is deemed to prevail over previous Chief Coroner Guidance notes in any situation in which there may be inconsistencies with the latter, and where that guidance has not yet been withdrawn or updated. It is therefore important that inquest practitioners keep up to date with the Bench Guidance, which is expressed to be a “live document” and subject to regular review. It does not yet address the complex area of Article 2 inquests, but the website informs that “future chapters will include Article 2”.

The Bench Guidance provides a comprehensive and detailed explanation of key areas of procedure within Coronial proceedings. Practitioners should be aware of a notable addition, at paragraph 14 within the Pre-Inquest Review Hearings section, that any written submissions to the Coroner should be served upon other IPs at the same time as they are filed (thereby removing the requirement for Coroners’ administrative staff to serve the same upon a direction from the Coroner). This is a welcome addition, bringing the dissemination of such correspondence into line with other jurisdictions.