UKC

There was a scallop trawler from Cumbria which was lost on the Scottish side of the Solway, several years ago. Three died one survived. When they had the inquest, in Scotland obviously, it was held in court in Fort William. That's over two hundred miles away. Why couldn't they use a local court in Dumfries and Galloway?

In reply to mockerkin:
I take it was the Aquila that capsized just north of the village of Kilmory, in Ardnamurchan?

Here are the courts, I guess it happened in the courts jurisdiction.
Sharing link , try this ...
http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/coming-to-court/location-information

In reply to Jim C:

It was the Aquila from Maryport, Cumbria. But how come the inquest was so far away? I would have thought that the Fort William courts would have enough inquest cases to deal with from their own area. Climbers, hill walkers, skiers, sea fishermen etc.
They must cover a huge area.

In reply to mockerkin:

The thing about Scotland is that it is not england and not america. Therefore there are no coroners and no inquests. The investigation of deaths is the responsibility of the Procurator Fiscal for the Court District concerned. If the cause of death is plainly obvious then no public procedure is conducted. In the event of a death at work, in legal custody, or one that is sudden, suspicious or unexplained, or may cause serious public concern, an inquisatorial court procedure called a Fatal Accident Inquiry is held. This is conducted in accordance with the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976.

The PF is in charge of the investigation and presents the evidence. After the Inquiry, the presiding Sheriff publishes a Determination (these days, available online).

The Determination focuses on the following.
(a)Where and when the death and any accident resulting in the death took place;
(b)the cause or causes of such death and any accident resulting in the death;
(c)the reasonable precautions, if any, whereby the death and any accident resulting in the death might have been avoided;
(d)the defects, if any, in any system of working which contributed to the death or any accident resulting in the death; and
(e)any other facts which are relevant to the circumstances of the death.

The hearing, and therefore the transcript, contain considerably more detail than the Determination.

I am not conversant with the current rules for transcripts.