When a death in prison has occurred in prison, police custody or other state detention there must be an inquest. Unless the death is from natural causes, the inquest must be held with a jury.
In cases where the state may have been involved in the death there will be an 'Article 2' inquest. This refers to Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and means that the inquest must decide not only the identity of the deceased and when, where and how the death occurred, but also, more broadly than a standard inquest, in what circumstances the deceased came by his or her death.
