Legal status refers to whether the individual was sentenced and serving a period of imprisonment or unsentenced at the time of their death. Unsentenced prisoners may include those who were being held on remand awaiting a court hearing, trial or extradition, convicted but awaiting sentencing, or awaiting deportation.

People are considered to have died in custody if they:

• - are held in the physical or legal custody of a prison, a youth detention centre, or of police at the time of their death
• - have died as the result of traumatic injuries sustained or lack of sufficient care provided while in custody, even if that period of custody has now ended
• - are fatally injured in the process of attempts by police or prison officers to detain them
• - are fatally injured while trying to escape police, prison, or youth detention custody.

Also included all deaths that are supposed to have occurred in the presence of police officers, including deaths from self-inflicted injuries. These include deaths that occurred during a welfare check by police, or attempts by police to prevent someone from committing self-harm.