Coroners and Justice Bill

House of Commons

Session 2008 - 09
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Other Bills before Parliament

Coroners and Justice Bill

Coroners and Justice Bill
Part 1 — Coroners etc
Chapter 1 — Investigations into deaths
6

Certification by Secretary of State in interests of national security etc
11
Certified investigations: investigation by judge, inquest without jury
(1)
The Secretary of State may certify an investigation under this Part into a
person’s death if of the opinion that—
(a)
the investigation will concern or involve a matter that should not be
5
made public for any of the reasons set out in subsection (2), and
(b)
no other measures would be adequate to prevent the matter being
made public.
(2)
The reasons are—
(a)
in order to protect the interests of—
10
(i)
national security,
(ii)
the relationship between the United Kingdom and another
country, or
(iii)
preventing or detecting crime;
(b)
in order to protect the safety of a witness or other person;
15
(c)
otherwise in order to prevent real harm to the public interest.
(3)
Where a certification under this section has effect—
(a)
the investigation in question must be conducted by a judge of the High
Court nominated by the Lord Chief Justice;
(b)
that judge has the same functions in relation to the body and the
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investigation as would be the case if he or she were the senior coroner
in whose area the body was situated;
(c)
no senior coroner, area coroner or assistant coroner has any functions
in relation to the body or the investigation.

Accordingly a reference in a statutory provision (whenever made) to a coroner
25
is to be read, where appropriate, as including a judge conducting an
investigation by virtue of this section.
(4)
The Secretary of State must as soon as possible notify whatever interested
persons he or she thinks appropriate of a certification under this section.
(5)
A certification under this section does not have effect—
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(a)
until the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the
certification, or
(b)
if proceedings for judicial review of the certification are brought within
that period, until the conclusion of those proceedings.
(6)
Where a certification under this section has effect, any inquest held as part of
35
the investigation in question must be held or, if it has already begun, continued
without a jury (so that a jury must not be summoned and, if a jury has already
been summoned, it must be discharged).
(7)
Where a decision made by a judge conducting an investigation by virtue of this
section gives rise to an appeal under section 30, that section has effect as if
40
references in it to the Chief Coroner were references to a judge of the Court of
Appeal nominated by the Lord Chief Justice.
(8)
A reference in this section or section 12 to conducting an investigation, in the
case of an investigation that has already begun, is to be read as a reference to
continuing to conduct it.
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Coroners and Justice Bill
Part 1 — Coroners etc
Chapter 1 — Investigations into deaths
7

12
Discontinuance of certification
(1)
A certification under section 11 has effect in relation to an investigation until it
is discontinued by the Secretary of State.

The following provisions have effect where a certification is discontinued.
(2)
After consulting the Chief Coroner, the Lord Chief Justice may (but need not)
5
make a direction terminating a nomination under section 11(3)(a).
(3)
Where the Lord Chief Justice makes a direction under subsection (2), the Chief
Coroner must—
(a)
direct the senior coroner who (but for section 11(3)) would be under a
duty to conduct the investigation to conduct it, or
10
(b)
exercise the power under section 3 or paragraph 1 or 2(1)(b) of Schedule
8.
(4)
In relation to any inquest held as part of the investigation, the person
conducting the investigation—
(a)
must summon a jury in a case falling within section 7(2), and
15
(b)
may do so in a case falling within section 7(3),

even if the inquest has already begun.
13
Intercept evidence
(1)
Section 18 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (c. 23) (exclusion
of matters from legal proceedings: exceptions) is amended as follows.
20
(2)
In subsection (7), after paragraph (c) insert—
“(d)
a disclosure—
(i)
to a judge of the High Court conducting an investigation
into a person’s death which has been certified by the
Secretary of State under section 11 of the Coroners and
25
Justice Act 2009, or
(ii)
to a person appointed as counsel to an inquest held as
part of an investigation so certified,

where the judge has ordered the disclosure to be made to the
judge alone or (as the case may be) to the judge and the person
30
appointed as counsel to the inquest; or
(e)
a disclosure to a coroner or to a person appointed as counsel to
an inquest where—
(i)
the Secretary of State has certified the inquest under
section 18A of the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959,
35
and
(ii)
the coroner has ordered the disclosure to be made to the
coroner alone or (as the case may be) to the coroner and
the person appointed as counsel to the inquest.”
(3)
After subsection (8A) insert—
40
“(8B)
A judge of the High Court shall not order a disclosure under subsection
(7)(d) except where the judge is satisfied that the exceptional
circumstances of the case make the disclosure essential to enable the
matters that are required to be ascertained by the investigation to be
ascertained.
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Coroners and Justice Bill
Part 1 — Coroners etc
Chapter 1 — Investigations into deaths
8

(8C)
A coroner shall not order a disclosure under subsection (7)(e) except
where the coroner is satisfied that the exceptional circumstances of the
case make the disclosure essential to enable the matters that are
required to be ascertained by the inquest to be ascertained.”
Suspension
5
14
Duty or power to suspend or resume investigations
Schedule 1 makes provision about suspension and resumption of
investigations.
Ancillary powers of coroners in relation to deaths
15
Post-mortem examinations
10
(1)
A senior coroner may request a suitable practitioner to make a post-mortem
examination of a body if—
(a)
the coroner is responsible for conducting an investigation under this
Part into the death of the person in question, or
(b)
a post-mortem examination is necessary to enable the coroner to decide
15
whether the death is one into which the coroner has a duty under
section 1(1) to conduct an investigation.
(2)
A request under subsection (1) may specify the kind of examination to be
made.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (1) a person is a suitable practitioner if he or
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she—
(a)
is a registered medical practitioner, or
(b)
in a case where a particular kind of examination is requested, a
practitioner of a description designated by the Chief Coroner as
suitable to make examinations of that kind.
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(4)
Where a person informs the senior coroner that, in the informant’s opinion,
death was caused wholly or partly by the improper or negligent treatment of a
registered medical practitioner or other person, that practitioner or other
person—
(a)
must not make, or assist at, an examination under this section of the
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body, but
(b)
is entitled to be represented at such an examination.

This subsection has no effect as regards a post-mortem examination already
made.
(5)
A person who makes a post-mortem examination under this section must as
35
soon as practicable report the result of the examination to the senior coroner in
whatever form the coroner requires.
16
Power to remove body
(1)
A senior coroner who—
(a)
is responsible for conducting an investigation under this Part into a
40
person’s death, or

Coroners and Justice Bill
Part 1 — Coroners etc
Chapter 2 — Notification, certification and registration of deaths
9

(b)
needs to request a post-mortem examination under section 15 in order
to decide whether the death is one into which the coroner has a duty
under section 1(1) to conduct an investigation,

may order the body to be removed to any suitable place.
(2)
That place may be within the coroner’s area or elsewhere.
5
(3)
The senior coroner may not order the removal of a body under this section to
a place provided by a person who has not consented to its being removed
there.

This does not apply to a place within the coroner’s area that is provided by a
district council, a county council, a county borough council, a London borough
10
council or the Common Council.
Chapter 2
Notification, certification and registration of deaths
17
Notification by medical practitioner to senior coroner
(1)
The Lord Chancellor may make regulations requiring a registered medical
15
practitioner, in prescribed cases or circumstances, to notify a senior coroner of
a death of which the practitioner is aware.
(2)
Before making regulations under this section the Lord Chancellor must
consult—
(a)
the Secretary of State for Health, and
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(b)
the Chief Coroner.
18
Medical examiners
(1)
Primary Care Trusts (in England) and Local Health Boards (in Wales) must appoint
persons as medical examiners to discharge the functions conferred on medical
examiners by or under this Chapter.
25
(2)
Each Trust or Board must—
(a)
appoint enough medical examiners, and make available enough funds
and other resources, to enable those functions to be discharged in its
area;
(b)
monitor the performance of medical examiners appointed by the Trust
30
or Board by reference to any standards or levels of performance that
those examiners are expected to attain.
(3)
A person may be appointed as a medical examiner only if, at the time of the
appointment, he or she—
(a)
is a registered medical practitioner and has been throughout the
35
previous 5 years, and
(b)
practises as such or has done within the previous 5 years.
(4)
The appropriate Minister may by regulations make—
(a)
provision about the terms of appointment of medical examiners and
about termination of appointment;
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(b)
provision for the payment to medical examiners of remuneration, expenses,
fees, compensation for termination of appointment, pensions, allowances or
gratuities;

Coroners and Justice Bill
Part 1 — Coroners etc
Chapter 2 — Notification, certification and registration of deaths
10

(c)
provision as to training—
(i)
to be undertaken as a precondition for appointment as a
medical examiner;
(ii)
to be undertaken by medical examiners;
(d)
provision about the procedure to be followed in connection with the
5
exercise of functions by medical examiners;
(e)
provision conferring functions on medical examiners;
(f)
provision for functions of medical examiners to be exercised, during a
period of emergency, by persons not meeting the criteria in subsection
(3).
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(5)
Nothing in this section, or in regulations under this section, gives a Primary
Care Trust or a Local Health Board any role in relation to the way in which
medical examiners exercise their professional judgment as medical
practitioners.
(6)
In this section “the appropriate Minister” means—
15
(a)
in relation to England, the Secretary of State;
(b)
in relation to Wales, the Welsh Ministers.
(7)
For the purposes of this section a “period of emergency” is a period certified as
such by the Secretary of State on the basis that there is or has been, or is about
to be, an event or situation involving or causing, or having the potential to
20
cause, a substantial loss of human life throughout, or in any part of, England
and Wales.
(8)
A certification under subsection (7) must specify—
(a)
the date when the period of emergency begins, and
(b)
the date when it is to end.
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(9)
Subsection (8)(b) does not prevent the Secretary of State certifying a new
period of emergency in respect of the same event or situation.
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Medical certificate of cause of death
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make the following provision in
relation to a death that is required to be registered under Part 2 of the 1953
30
Act—
(a)
provision requiring a registered medical practitioner who attended the
deceased before his or her death (an “attending practitioner”)—
(i)
to prepare a certificate stating the cause of death to the best of
the practitioner’s knowledge and belief (an “attending
35
practitioner’s certificate”), or
(ii)
where the practitioner is unable to establish the cause of death,
to refer the case to a senior coroner;
(b)
provision requiring a copy of an attending practitioner’s certificate to
be given to a medical examiner;
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(c)
provision allowing an attending practitioner, if invited to do so by the
medical examiner or a registrar, to issue a fresh attending practitioner’s
certificate superseding the existing one;
(d)
provision requiring a senior coroner to refer a case to a medical
examiner;
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Coroners and Justice Bill
Part 1 — Coroners etc
Chapter 2 — Notification, certification and registration of deaths
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(e)
provision requiring a medical examiner to make whatever enquiries
appear to be necessary in order to confirm or establish the cause of
death;
(f)
provision requiring a medical examiner to whom a copy of an
attending practitioner’s certificate has been given—
5
(i)
to confirm the cause of death stated on the certificate and to
notify a registrar that the cause of death has been confirmed, or
(ii)
where the examiner is unable to confirm the cause of death, to
refer the case to a senior coroner;
(g)
provision for an attending practitioner’s certificate, once the cause of
10
death has been confirmed as mentioned in paragraph (f), to be given to
a registrar;
(h)
provision requiring a medical examiner to whom a case has been
referred by a senior coroner—
(i)
to issue a certificate stating the cause of death to the best of the
15
examiner’s knowledge and belief (a “medical examiner’s
certificate”) and to notify a registrar that the certificate has been
issued, or
(ii)
where the examiner is unable to establish the cause of the death,
to refer the case back to the coroner;
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(i)
provision for a medical examiner’s certificate to be given to a registrar;
(j)
provision allowing a medical examiner, if invited to do so by the
registrar, to issue a fresh medical examiner’s certificate superseding the
existing one;
(k)
provision requiring a medical examiner or someone acting on behalf of
25
a medical examiner—
(i)
to discuss the cause of death with the informant or with some
other person whom the examiner considers appropriate, and
(ii)
to give him or her the opportunity to mention any matter that
might cause a senior coroner to think that the death should be
30
investigated under section 1;
(l)
provision for confirmation to be given in writing, either by the
informant or by a person of a prescribed description, that the
requirement referred to in paragraph (k) has been complied with;
(m)
provision prescribing forms (including the form of an attending
35
practitioner’s certificate and of a medical examiner’s certificate) for use
by persons exercising functions under the regulations, and requiring
the forms to be made available to those persons;
(n)
provision requiring the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of
Health, after consulting—
40
(i)
the Officer with corresponding functions in relation to Wales,
(ii)
the Registrar General, and
(iii)
the Statistics Board,

to issue guidance as to how certificates and other forms under the
regulations are to be completed;
45
(o)
provision for certificates or other forms under the regulations to be
signed or otherwise authenticated.
(2)
Regulations under subsection (1) imposing a requirement—
(a)
may prescribe a period within which the requirement is to be complied
with;
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Coroners and Justice Bill
Part 1 — Coroners etc
Chapter 3 — Investigations concerning treasure
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(b)
may prescribe cases or circumstances in which the requirement does, or
does not, apply (and may, in particular, provide for the requirement
not to apply during a period of emergency).
(3)
The power under subsection (1)(m) to prescribe forms is exercisable only after
consultation with—
5
(a)
the Welsh Ministers,
(b)
the Registrar General, and
(c)
the Statistics Board.
(4)
Regulations under subsection (1) may provide for functions that would
otherwise be exercisable by a registered medical practitioner who attended the
10
deceased before his or her death to be exercisable, during a period of
emergency, by a registered medical practitioner who did not do so.
(5)
The appropriate Minister may by regulations provide for a fee to be payable to
a Primary Care Trust or Local Health Board in respect of—
(a)
a medical examiner’s confirmation of the cause of death stated on an
15
attending practitioner’s certificate, or
(b)
the issue of a medical examiner’s certificate.
(6)
Section 7 of the Cremation Act 1902 (c. 8) (regulations as to burning) does not
require the Secretary of State to make regulations, or to include any provision
in regulations, if or to the extent that he or she thinks it unnecessary to do so in
20
consequence of provision made by regulations under this section.
(7)
In this section—
“the appropriate Minister” has the same meaning as in section 18;
“informant”, in relation to a death, means the person who gave particulars
concerning the death to the registrar under section 16 or 17 of the 1953
25
Act;
“period of emergency” has the same meaning as in section 18;
“the Statistics Board” means the body corporate established by section 1
of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (c. 18).
Chapter 3
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Investigations concerning treasure
20
Investigations concerning treasure
(1)
A senior coroner must conduct an investigation concerning an object if—
(a)
notification is given in respect of the object under section 8(1) of the
Treasure Act 1996 (c. 24), and
35
(b)
it appears to the coroner that the object was found within the coroner’s
area.
(2)
A senior coroner may conduct an investigation concerning an object in respect
of which notification has not been given under that section if—
(a)
the coroner has reason to suspect that the object is treasure or treasure
40
trove, and
(b)
it appears to the coroner that the object was found within the coroner’s
area.
(3)
Subsections (1) and (2) are subject to sections 2 and 3 read as if—