The potential of the coroner’s office in Ontario to reduce the incidents of child maltreatment-related fatalities is assessed through an examination of the four inquests completed between 2000 and 2015 involving the deaths of children connected with the child welfare system. Applying a human rights perspective rooted in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is argued that a concern for the fundamental legal entitlements of children has been little in evidence at the inquests of child fatalities, detracting from the ability of these proceedings to contribute to the prevention of maltreatment-related child deaths. Data derived from the juries’ verdicts at these inquests are compared with the rights and principles prescribed in the Convention with a view to assessing the extent to which the latter are implicated in the former. Findings of note include the absence of a simple instance in which the Convention or its provisions were explicitly referenced in the inquest verdicts, a startling fact given Canada’s obligations under international law to a treaty dedicated to the preservation of the life and wellbeing of children.
