House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

House of Commons

Session 2008 - 09
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Report Stage Proceedings: 23 March 2009
114

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  99

Page  6,  line  43  [Clause  11],  leave out lines 43 to 45 and insert—

‘( )
In this section—

(a)
a reference 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;

(b)
a reference to holding an inquest without a jury, in the case of an inquest

that has already begun, is to be read as a reference to continuing the

inquest without a jury.


Where by virtue of subsection (6) an inquest begun with a jury has to be continued

without one, the judge holding the inquest must discharge the jury.’.

Secretary Jack Straw

David Howarth

Mr Andrew Dismore

Dr Evan Harris

Mr Virendra Sharma

Jo Swinson

Agreed to  3

Page  7,  line  1,  leave out Clause 12.

David Howarth

Jenny Willott

Mr Andrew Dismore

Dr Evan Harris

Mr Virendra Sharma

Not called  30

Page  7,  line  18,  leave out Clause 13.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  101

Page  7,  line  21  [Clause  13],  at end insert—

‘“( )
a disclosure made by the Secretary of State to a judge of the High Court

in pursuance of section 11(5A) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009;’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  102

Page  7,  line  31  [Clause  13],  leave out ‘or’ and insert—

‘( )
a disclosure made by the Secretary of State to a coroner in pursuance of

section 18A(2)(a) of the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959; or’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  109

Page  19,  line  35  [Clause  34],  leave out from ‘provision’ to ‘from’ in line 37 and

insert ‘conferring power on a person holding an inquest as part of an investigation that has

Report Stage Proceedings: 23 March 2009
115

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

been certified under section 11 to give a direction excluding persons’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  110

Page  20,  line  39  [Clause  36],  at end insert—

‘( )
in the case of an investigation that has been certified under section 11, the

Minister who certified the investigation;’.

Andrew Mackinlay

Not called  16

Page  23,  line  26,  leave out Clause 38.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  111

Page  23,  line  26  [Clause  38],  at end insert—

‘( )
In section 13 of the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959 (c. 15) (coroner may

hold inquest), in subsection (1), for the words from “a coroner within whose

district” to “an unexpected or unexplained death” substitute “a coroner—

(a)
who is informed that the body of a deceased person is lying within his

district; or

(b)
in whose district an unexpected or unexplained death”.’.

David Howarth

Jenny Willott

Not called  29

Page  23,  line  28  [Clause  38],  leave out ‘and in sections 11 and 12’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  112

Page  23,  line  28  [Clause  38],  leave out ‘sections 11 and 12’ and insert ‘section 11’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  113

Page  126,  line  32  [Schedule  3],  leave out ‘, 3 or 12(3)(a)’ and insert ‘or 3’.

Report Stage Proceedings: 23 March 2009
116

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

Andrew Mackinlay

Not called  17

Page  139,  line  1,  leave out Schedule 9.

David Howarth

Jenny Willott

Not called  28

Page  141,  line  18  [Schedule  9],  leave out from beginning to end of line 23 on page

142.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  120

Page  141,  line  21  [Schedule  9],  leave out from beginning to end of line 19 on page

142 and insert—

‘“18A
Certified inquest without jury where interests of national security etc

require

(1)
The Secretary of State may certify an inquest if—

(a)
the inquest will (if it is not certified) be held with a jury;
5
(b)
the Secretary of State is satisfied that the inquest will concern

or involve matters (referred to below as “protected matters”)

that should not be made public in order to protect the interests

of—

(i)
national security,
10
(ii)
the relationship between the United Kingdom and

another country, or

(iii)
preventing or detecting crime,


or in order to protect the safety of a witness or other person;

and
15
(c)
the Secretary of State is of the opinion that it is necessary for

the inquest to be held without a jury in order to avoid protected

matters being made public or unlawfully disclosed.

(2)
Where the Secretary of State has certified an inquest under this

section—
20
(a)
the Secretary of State shall as soon as possible inform the

coroner of the certification and of the protected matters;

(b)
the coroner shall as soon as possible inform every person—

(i)
who in the coroner’s opinion is a properly interested

person, and
25
(ii)
whose name and contact details are known to the

coroner,


that the inquest has been certified.

(3)
There shall be no proceedings on an inquest certified under this

section—
30
(a)
until the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date

of the certification, or

Report Stage Proceedings: 23 March 2009
117

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

(b)
if proceedings for judicial review of the certification are

brought within that period, until the conclusion of the

proceedings.
35
(4)
The coroner shall hold a certified inquest without a jury if—

(a)
there is a protected matter that would need to be revealed to

the jury (if there was one)—

(i)
in order for the jury to be able to make a proper

decision on their verdict as to the particulars
40
mentioned in section 31(1), and

(ii)
in order to avoid a breach of any relevant Convention

rights (within the meaning of the Human Rights Act

1998);


and
45
(b)
the coroner is satisfied that it is necessary to hold the inquest

without a jury in order to avoid the matter being made public

or unlawfully disclosed.


If the coroner decides to hold the inquest with a jury, he shall not allow

any protected matter to be revealed to the jury unless it is a matter
50
within paragraph (a).

(5)
A reference in subsection (4) to holding an inquest without a jury, in

the case of an inquest that has already begun, is to be read as a

reference to continuing the inquest without a jury; and where by virtue

of that subsection an inquest begun with a jury has to be continued
55
without one, the coroner shall discharge the jury.”’.

As Amendments to Secretary Jack Straw’s proposed Amendment (No. 120):—

Mr Douglas Hogg

Not called  (a)

Line  5,  after ‘satisfied’, insert ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.

Mr Douglas Hogg

Not called  (b)

Line  10,  leave out sub-paragraph (ii).

Mr Douglas Hogg

Not called  (c)

Line  12,  after ‘detecting’, insert ‘serious’.

Mr Douglas Hogg

Not called  (d)

Line  15,  leave out ‘of the opinion’ and insert ‘satisfied beyond a reasonable

doubt’.

Mr Douglas Hogg

Not called  (e)

Line  45,  after ‘satisfied’, insert ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.

Report Stage Proceedings: 23 March 2009
118

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  127

Page  215,  line  22  [Schedule  20],  leave out ‘sections 11 and 12’ and insert ‘section

11’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  128

Page  215,  line  25  [Schedule  20],  leave out ‘sections 11 and 12’ and insert ‘section

11’.

Remaining New Clauses, New Schedules and amendments Relating to Part 1

Death of service personnel abroad: investigation in Scotland

Secretary Jack Straw

Added  NC33

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies to the death outside the United Kingdom of a person within

subsection (2) or (3).

(2)
A person is within this subsection if at the time of the death the person was subject

to service law by virtue of section 367 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52) and

was engaged in—

(a)
active service,

(b)
activities carried on in preparation for, or directly in support of, active

service, or

(c)
training carried out in order to improve or maintain the effectiveness of

those engaged in active service.

(3)
A person is within this subsection if at the time of the death the person was not

subject to service law but—

(a)
by virtue of paragraph 7 of Schedule 15 to the Armed Forces Act 2006

(c. 52) was a civilian subject to service discipline, and

(b)
was accompanying persons subject to service law who were engaged in

active service.

(4)
If—

(a)
the person’s body is within Scotland or is expected to be brought to the

United Kingdom, and

(b)
the Secretary of State thinks that it may be appropriate for the

circumstances of the death to be investigated under the Fatal Accidents

and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 14),


the Secretary of State may notify the Lord Advocate accordingly.

(5)
If—

(a)
the person’s body is within England and Wales, and

(b)
the Chief Coroner thinks that it may be appropriate for the circumstances

of the death to be investigated under that Act,


the Chief Coroner may notify the Lord Advocate accordingly.

Report Stage Proceedings: 23 March 2009
119

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

(6)
In this section “active service” has the same meaning as in section 8 of the Armed

Forces Act 2006 (c. 52).’.

Death of service personnel abroad: investigation in England and Wales despite body

being brought to Scotland

Secretary Jack Straw

Added  NC34

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
The Chief Coroner may direct a senior coroner to conduct an investigation into a

person’s death if—

(a)
the deceased is a person within subsection (2) or (3) of section [Death of

service personnel abroad: investigation in Scotland],

(b)
the Lord Advocate has been notified under subsection (4) or (5) of that

section in relation to the death,

(c)
the body of the deceased has been brought to Scotland,

(d)
no inquiry into the circumstances of the death under the Fatal Accidents

and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 14) has been held (or

any such inquiry that has been started has not been concluded),

(e)
the Lord Advocate notifies the Chief Coroner that, in the Lord

Advocate’s view, it may be appropriate for an investigation under this

Part into the death to be conducted, and

(f)
the Chief Coroner has reason to suspect that—

(i)
the deceased died a violent or unnatural death,

(ii)
the cause of death is unknown, or

(iii)
the deceased died while in custody or otherwise in state

detention.

(2)
The coroner to whom a direction is given under subsection (1) must conduct an

investigation into the death as soon as practicable.


This is subject to section 3.’.

Amendments to the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976

Secretary Jack Straw

Added  NC35

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
The Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 14) is

amended as follows.

(2)
After section 1 insert—

“1A
Death of service personnel abroad

(1)
Subsection (4) applies where—

Report Stage Proceedings: 23 March 2009
120

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

(a)
the Lord Advocate is notified under section [Death of service

personnel abroad: investigation in Scotland](4) or (5) of the

Coroners and Justice Act 2009 in relation to a death,

(b)
the death is within subsection (2) or (3), and

(c)
the Lord Advocate—

(i)
decides that it would be appropriate in the public interest

for an inquiry under this Act to be held into the

circumstances of the death, and

(ii)
does not reverse that decision.

(2)
A death is within this subsection if the person who has died was, at the

time of the death, in legal custody (as construed by reference to section

1(4)).

(3)
A death is within this subsection if it appears to the Lord Advocate that

the death—

(a)
was sudden, suspicious or unexplained, or

(b)
occurred in circumstances such as to give rise to serious public

concern.

(4)
The procurator fiscal for the appropriate district must—

(a)
investigate the circumstances of the death, and

(b)
apply to the sheriff for the holding of an inquiry under this Act

into those circumstances.

(5)
But subsection (4) does not extend to a death within subsection (2) if the

Lord       Advocate is satisfied that the circumstances of the death have been

sufficiently established in the course of any criminal proceedings against

any person in respect of the death.

(6)
An application under subsection (4)(b)—

(a)
is to be made to the sheriff of the appropriate sheriffdom,

(b)
must narrate briefly the circumstances of the death so far as

known to the procurator fiscal,

(c)
may relate to more than one death if the deaths occurred in the

same or similar circumstances.

(7)
It is for the Lord Advocate to determine the appropriate district and

appropriate sheriffdom for the purposes of subsections (4) and (6)(a).”

(3)
In section 2 (citation of witnesses for precognition), in subsection (1), after

“section 1(1)” insert “or 1A(4)”.

(4)
In section 3 (holding of public inquiry), in subsections (1) and (3), after “section

1” insert “or 1A”.

(5)
In section 6 (sheriff’s determination etc), in subsection (4)(a)(i), after “section 1”

insert “or 1A”.’.

Reports and advice to the Lord Chancellor from the Chief Coroner

Secretary Jack Straw

Added  NC36

To move the following Clause:—