ABSTRACT
Rules guide their subjects to act in certain ways; that is their purpose. Those who act officially in response to deaths at work do so within a framework of law. Their actions are governed by a quite complex matrix of regulations which flow from a raft of health and safety Acts; statutory instruments made pursuant to that legislation; legislation and regulations governing the coroner’s jurisdiction, rights and duties; legislation governing the Crown Prosecution Service; the law of evidence and procedure; and the body of accumulated case law which determines other matters such as the limits within which coronial discretion must be exercised. Another legal obstacle in the way of a proper police investigation is an evidential difficulty. The incorporation of road traffic deaths into the jurisdiction of ordinary policing is instructive. One notable exception to the general reluctance of the police to initiate criminal investigations is the case of George Kenyon.
