Open Verdict / Undetermined
Definition
The UK Coroner's conclusion (open verdict, or narrative conclusion) where evidence is insufficient for a more specific conclusion. Functionally equivalent to the NAME 'undetermined' category. The standard of proof for all UK coroner short-form conclusions was changed to the civil standard (balance of probabilities) by R (Maughan) v. HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire (2020).
Related terms
- BNSS § 194
- Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (replacing CrPC § 174). Requires a police inquest for deaths that are sudden,...
- ICD-10 Chapter XX (V01-Y98)
- The External Causes of Morbidity and Mortality chapter of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision. These codes capture the circumstances and...
- Mechanism of Death
- The physiological derangement through which the cause of death produced the dying process. Examples include exsanguination, asphyxia, sepsis, and cardiac arrhythmia. Multiple...
- NAME Classification
- The National Association of Medical Examiners five-class manner-of-death taxonomy: Natural, Accidental, Suicide, Homicide, and Undetermined. The internationally dominant framework for manner-of-death certification,...
- Underlying Cause of Death
- The disease or injury that initiated the chain of events that led to death, as defined in the WHO ICD coding conventions....
Explained in
- Cause, Mechanism, Manner and the NAME ClassificationThe UK Coroner's conclusion (open verdict, or narrative conclusion) where evidence is insufficient for a more specific conclusion. Functionally equivalent to t...