Some Families Left Waiting Years For Answers After Deaths Of Loved Ones

Specialist serious injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell Scotland have backed calls for waiting times for Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAIs) to be reduced so families can get the answers they deserve after losing loved ones.

Holyrood’s Justice Committee is currently reviewing the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Death Bill and has heard from families who have been forced to wait years to hear how and why their loved ones died.

One campaigner from Families Against Corporate Killers, who lost her brother in a workplace accident, has called for time limits for FAIs and a review of the practice of inquiries taking place after criminal procedures have been completed.

In 2009, Lord Cullen made a series of recommendations for updates, improvements and an expansion of the Bill and has told the committee that the delays some families are facing under the current system are “very dismaying and very, very unfortunate”.

Elaine Russell, a Partner and expert serious injury lawyer at IMScotland, said: