An inquest is basically a judicial inquiry. Normally, a coroner and/or jury requests an inquest regarding the cause of the death of an individual who was just killed or suddenly died under mysterious or other suspicious circumstances, including but not limited to prison. Usually, the inquest will result in an establishment of the type of death involved, such as a natural death, suicide, murder, or an accidental death. If culpability was shown to have contributed to the individual’s death, a criminal prosecution may soon occur afterwards.
Generally though, an inquest can also refer to a body of jurors summoned to probe certain circumstances. For instance, sometimes, an inquest is made for a matter unrelated to an individual’s death, such as a request by a jury regarding an individual’s mental condition. Also, a grand jury is sometimes known as a grand inquest.
On an interesting note, the creation of today’s modern jury system originated between the eighth and tenth centuries from the Carolingian empire of early medieval Europe. The Kings of the Carolingian empire utilized a procedure known as inquest, or inquisition, in order to maintain their power and authority throughout their domains. As an example of this, these kings also brought together various peoples from throughout the regions of their empire and deliberated with them to learn what they felt to be the most important rights. Once these kings determined which rights were considered, the local governments throughout the empire adopted and established these rights. Nonetheless, these inquests lacked the modern-day features of accusations, judgments, verdicts, and other aspects in its procedure. Nevertheless, the main feature of the inquest was obtaining information and this allowed governments to obtain and request information from local individuals.
When William of Normandy and his descendants invaded England in 1066, they used an inquest to obtain information about the people living in England, which they then used to write the Domesday Book, a census that recorded land ownership throughout England.
Additionally, another feature that soon followed in the inquest system was the establishment of the coroner office. Shortly after the Norman conquest of England and during the Middle Ages, the coroner was a government official who compiled records of accusations, government transactions, public financial matters, and decision from lower courts. The coroner also had the power to hold inquests to investigate mysterious deaths. The reason behind this was to investigate the crown’s financial interests, determine the cause of death, and seize the property of the deceased individual had they committed a felony or suicide. It is from these duties that the modern coroner and the inquest system resulted from today. Although coroners today are responsible for handling dead bodies, they still utilize the inquest procedure for investigating deaths.
[Last updated in June of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]