Nona & Anor v Barnes & Anor

At the conclusion of an inquest into the death of a number of persons a coroner did not pass information of any indictable offence to the Director of Public Prosecutions and concluded that there was no basis to do so.  The brother of one of the deceased persons sought judicial review of the Coroner’s failure to pass on information and, in that process sought reasons from the Coroner in respect of the decision not to give information to the DPP.  The Court of Appeal held that there was no “decision” to which the Judicial Review Act applied.  A mere “state of mind” could not amount to a “decision” whilst the decision maker remained free to consider the relevant matter and the relevant decision making function has not been brought to an end.  An important feature of a “decision” is finality associated with an overt manifestation of the decision maker’s thought processes.  The Court also dealt with the question of whether or not the decision was made “under an enactment”?