The long-awaited Inquest hearing into the death of Jean Charles De Menezes opened at the Oval Cricket Ground in London at the end of September with Merrill Legal Solutions playing a vital role in what will undoubtedly be the most high profile Inquest of the year. The hearing is a highly sensitive matter and the Merrill team has worked with the Coroner’s office for some time to ensure that our services are tailored to their very specific requirements.
Merrill is providing a range of services to the Inquest, including the production of real-time transcripts with our reporters using LiveNote technology, which enables documents referred to during the hearing to be hyperlinked to the transcript. In addition, the Inquest evidence has been scanned prior to the hearing to enable it to be organised using Trial Director trial presentation software which will mean that those involved in the hearing will have immediate access to evidence and exhibits, avoiding the need for large bundles of paper evidence in the Courtroom. As part of this project our team has provided all the necessary computer equipment and set up the Courtroom to give all parties access to transcripts and evidence via their own computer screen. The team has also given training on how to operate the in-court technology to the Coroner and his team and also to all of the legal representatives.
The media and members of the public will be accommodated in a Court annex next to the main Courtroom and will be provided with a live audio and visual feed of the proceedings and will also have access to the real-time transcripts produced by Merrill. In addition, Merrill is providing copies of the transcripts and the scanned evidence and exhibits to the Inquest’s website management team and copies of the daily transcripts can be found on the Inquest website at www.stockwellinquest.org.uk. The transcripts will be linked to the documentary evidence seen by the jury in Court.
Jayne Perry, UK Managing Director of Merrill Legal Solutions says: “We are unique in being able to offer this particular suite of services. The complex and lengthy nature of the Inquest means that the support that we will be providing will be invaluable in ensuring that everyone involved keeps abreast of the large amount of information and evidence being heard. In addition, our team will be on hand to provide support whenever required.”
For further information on our Inquest services, please contact Reema Corney at reema.corney@merrillcorp.com or on 0207 421 4005.
