Fatal Accident Inquiries involve a public examination of the circumstances of a death conducted before a Sheriff. The responsibility for conducting FAIs lies with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). In undertaking such investigations, COPFS is required to take all reasonable steps available to them to secure the evidence concerning the incident. Such evidence includes eyewitness accounts, forensic evidence and the post mortem report.
FAIs are now fully governed under the Inquiries into Fatal Accident and Sudden Deaths (Scotland) etc. Act 2016 (which came into force in June 2017). By examining Sudden Deaths and FAIs, the book provides a contemporary and fresh insight into the system, starting with the role of COPFS in sudden death cases. All determinations must now (since 2012) be published, and these details provide a source about FAIs which can be analysed.
This new title includes: