Death investigations in England and Wales are so oddly transparent compared to European ones. Ancient custom dictates that sudden or unexplained deaths should be investigated openly on behalf of the local community, and that tradition has survived in the coroner's court system. It's crazy to me how a random passer-by can attend an inquest about the death of someone they have never met.

In my county there is no public hearing on suicides or sudden deaths. Instead there is a private investigation. In America too, death investigations are usually conducted by coroners in an administrative way rather than as a public "fact-finding" hearing.