Charlotte L. Belcher

As part of the team, Charlotte has acted on behalf of Core Participants in some of the highest profile public inquiries in recent years to include: the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the Infected Blood Inquiry. Charlotte was also part of the Commissioning Body team for the Independent Inquiry into Telford Child Sexual Exploitation, the non-statutory inquiry to examine child sexual exploitation in Telford, and was part of the team acting as Solicitors to the Sabina Rizvi Inquest.

Working on these and other inquiries, Charlotte has been involved in all aspects of the inquiry process, working on behalf of Core Participants or the inquiry. This has included interviewing numerous witnesses including senior leaders, police officers and victims of crime; preparing witness statements, including suggesting lawful redactions prior to onward publication; reviewing and analysing the relevancy of information, often involving the most sensitive subjects; considering statements of other Core Participants and the appropriateness of Rule 10 questions;  reviewing responses to Rule 9 requests from the inquiry; liaising with clients, the inquiry (including the chair), stakeholders and counsel; attending inquiry hearings to support witnesses giving their evidence, and supporting the chair with maxwellisation and the evidence gathered for their final report. Additionally, Charlotte is experienced in handling protectively marked material.

Charlotte also has experience in advising clients with Interested Person status on all aspects of the inquest process, including complex Article 2 and jury inquests. She has advised clients on coronial law; prepared submissions to the Coroner; liaised with the Coroner and Coroner’s office; assisted with responses to Schedule 5 requests and represented clients during the inquest, including supporting witnesses giving evidence. 

Most recently she assisted the Coroner as part of the Solicitor to the Sabina Rizvi Inquest team in a complex four week judge-led Article 2 inquest, which  included assisting with the preparation for the inquest – dealing with complex Public Interest Immunity and data protection issues; reviewing relevant documentation for relevance to support the Coroner; preparing disclosure to Interested Persons including processing of redactions; and managing correspondence with a number of Interested Persons. Charlotte then attended the hearings to manage the Inquest process and support the Coroner and Counsel to the Inquest.

Charlotte is particularly interested in the use of technology for document management in inquiries and inquests, with experience using a number of technology platforms, and advising on using this to build in efficiencies.

Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland, Charlotte worked at a firm specialising in Healthcare. Charlotte advised public and private-sector clients on a range of issues including inquests (where she undertook her own advocacy), internal investigations and root cause analyses, public law, including judicial review, and data protection.