The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
29.
Mr Gardiner
wrote to a Home Office official on 18 March, the day before
military
operations
against Iraq began:
“There are
a few matters outstanding but, generally, I think we are reasonably
well
prepared,
although there are bound to be things we have not thought
of.”22
30.
The Home
Office issued guidance to all coroners on handling deaths arising
from
hostilities
in Iraq on 26 March.23
The
guidance stated:
•
The MOD had
advised that, while hostilities lasted, it would not be possible
to
provide
evidence of the incidents on the battlefield which led to injury.
In those
circumstances,
the Home Office recommended that coroners should
adjourn
inquests
pending the conclusion of hostilities. Coroners “could expect to
receive
in due
course advice on when it might be appropriate to consider the
resumption
of such
inquests”.
•
Coroners
should notify the Home Office “if the numbers of adjourned cases
in
their
jurisdiction seem likely to cause problems in terms of
workload”.
31.
A Home Office
official wrote to Mr Gardiner on 2 April to advise that, while
the
Home Office
appreciated Mr Gardiner’s “willingness to undertake the
handling of all
these
cases”, the extra costs involved would fall to Oxfordshire County
Council and they
should be
invited to agree the commitment that Mr Gardiner was taking
on.24
32.
The official
went on to suggest that, “wherever appropriate, it would be better
for the
substantive
inquests to be held by coroners local to the family concerned, as
with any
other
deaths overseas”. While that approach had not been adopted for the
inquests into
the deaths
caused by the 9/11 attack and the Bali bombing, in those cases the
deaths all
arose from
a single incident:
“In the
case of Iraq, the deaths are occurring in different places, at
different times
and in
different circumstances. It seems to me, that unless there is good
reason
to the
contrary, single deaths, and multiple deaths arising from the same
incident
and
involving personnel from broadly the same place in England and
Wales, ought
to be
subject to local inquests where the family or families involved can
attend
conveniently.
Inquests into multiple deaths involving individuals from
different
parts of
the country might properly be undertaken by you, unless there seems
to
be a more
appropriate local coroner (e.g. if the deceased were all from the
same
military base).”
33.
Mr Gardiner
replied on 4 April, agreeing that it was certainly appropriate for
some
inquests to
be transferred to other coroners.25
Those would
generally be single deaths,
22
Letter
Gardiner to Home Office [junior official], 18 March 2003,
[untitled].
23
Letter
Cobley to Coroners, 26 March 2003, ‘Deaths Arising from Hostilities
in Iraq’.
24
Letter Home
Office [junior official] to Gardiner, 2 April 2003, ‘Section 14 and
War Deaths’.
25
Letter
Gardiner to Home Office [junior official], 4 April 2003, ‘Section
14 etc’.
82