A pre-inquest hearing into the 96 Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough in 1989 will take place in London on April 25th.
The coroner for the new inquests, Lord Justice Goldring, will outline the scope of the inquest and the procedures that will be adopted. It is thought the hearing will decide the location and arrangements for full inquest hearings.
This is the first stage in the process after fresh inquests into the disaster were ordered in December last year after the High Court quashed the original verdicts of accidental death.
This followed a report by the Hillsborough Independent Panel last September, which had shown that 41 people may have been saved and evidence of a cover-up by South Yorkshire Police.
In a report published by the Ministry of Justice in March 2012, the pre-inquest hearings are an opportunity for the coroner to invite the ‘properly interested persons and/or their legal representatives’ to the pre-inquest hearing, where they have the opportunity to make representations to the coroner.
It is expected that a live video link of the hearing will be shown in Liverpool.