Annex: Proposed Committee Amendments
In this Annex, we suggest amendments to the Coroners
and Justice Bill[202]
to give effect to some of our recommendations and to assist parliamentarians
in ensuring that some of the matters we have raised are debated
in Parliament.
Certified or secret inquests
These amendments are intended to remove the Government's
proposals on certified inquests from the Bill. (Paragraph …)
Page 6, Line 2, Leave out Clause 11.
Page 7, Line 1, Leave out Clause 12.
Page 7, Line 18, Leave out Clause 13.
Information Sharing Orders and the right to respect
for private life
This amendment is intended to remove the Government's
proposals for Information Sharing Orders from the Bill. (Paragraph
…)
Page 101, Line 12, Leave out Clause 154.
New powers for the Information Commissioner
This amendment is intended to extend the proposed
power for the Information Commissioner to issue Assessment Notices
to data-controllers in the private sector. Paragraph …)
Page 98, Line 25, [Clause 153], delete from
the second "is" to the end of line 29 and insert "not
an excluded body".
This amendment is intended to treat failure by a
public authority to comply with an Assessment Notice as contempt
of court. (Paragraph …)
Failure by a government department or public authority
to comply with an assessment notice
To move the following clause-
"(1) If a government department or public authority
has failed to comply with an assessment notice the Commissioner
may certify in writing to the court that the public authority
has failed to comply with that notice.
(2) Where failure to comply is certified under subsection
(1), the court may inquire into the matter and, after hearing
any witness who may be produced against or on behalf of the government
department or the public authority, and after hearing any statement
that may be offered in defence, deal with the failure to comply
as if it were a contempt of court.".
Duty to investigate
This amendment clarifies the circumstances when,
for the purposes of the Bill, an individual shall be "in
state detention." This is a non-exhaustive list. (Paragraph
…)
Page 2, Line 1, [Clause 1], at the end insert-
"(2A) For the purposes of this section, the
circumstances when the deceased should be considered to have been
in 'state detention' include:
(a) detention by a constable or other public authority
pursuant to statutory or common law powers;
(b) detention or deprivation of liberty pursuant
to the requirements of mental health legislation, including the
Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005, as amended
by the Mental Health Act 2007;
(c) the placement of a child in secure accommodation;
(d) detention pursuant to immigration and asylum
legislation; and
(e) the detention of any person in custody or otherwise
detained while he or she is being transported from one place to
another.".
Purpose of investigation and matters to be ascertained
This amendment is intended to clarify that the purpose
of an investigation will be to ascertain the circumstances of
a death in cases where there could be a risk to public health
and safety or in any other circumstances that the coroner determines
in the public interest. (Paragraph …)
Page 4, Line 4, [Clause 5], at the end insert-
"(2A) The senior coroner may determine that
the purpose of any investigation shall include ascertaining the
circumstances the deceased came by his or her death where
(a) the senior coroner is satisfied that there are
reasonable grounds to determine that the continued or repeat occurrence
of those circumstances would be prejudicial to the health and
safety of members of the public, or any section of it; or
(b) the senior coroner is satisfied that there are
reasonable grounds to consider such circumstances in the public
interest.".
Outcome of the investigation
This amendment clarifies that the limitation in clause
10(2) cannot affect the overriding duty on the coroner to fulfil
the purpose of his investigation. (Paragraph …)
Page 5, Line 40, [Clause 10], at the end insert-
"(3A) Subsection 2 shall not affect the duty
on the coroner to conduct an investigation which meets the requirements
of Section 5.".
Juries
These amendments remove the Government's proposals
to change the composition of inquest juries and restate the current
position in the Coroners Act 1988 (Paragraph …)
Page 4, Line 31, [Clause 7], at the end insert-
"(d) that the death occurred in circumstances
the continuance or possible recurrence of which is prejudicial
to the health or safety of the public or any section of the public.".
Page 4, Line 41, [Clause 8], leave out "six,
seven, eight or nine" and insert "not less than seven
nor more than eleven".
Page 5, Line 17, [Clause 9], leave out paragraph
(a) and insert-
"(a) the minority consists of not more than
two, and".
Legal aid
This amendment requires the Secretary of State to
initiate a review of Legal Aid and other funding for bereaved
families in relation to inquests. (Paragraph …)
Review of access to legal aid in inquests
To move the following clause-
"(1) The Secretary of State shall, within one
year after the date on which this Act receives Royal Assent, lay
before both Houses of Parliament a report on access to legal aid
and other funding for bereaved families in relation to inquests.
(2) The report under subsection (1) shall be prepared
by a person appointed by the Secretary of State following consultation
with
(a) the Lord Chief Justice; and
(b) such other persons as the Secretary of State
shall consider appropriate to consult.".
Witness anonymity
These amendments propose additional safeguards in
respect of the Government's proposals for witness anonymity. (Paragraph
…)
Page 42, Line 5, [Clause 71], at the end insert-
"(7A) The court has the power to appoint special
counsel to represent the interests of the defendant in his or
her absence, if it appears to the court to be appropriate to do
so in the circumstances of the case.".
Page 37, line 40, at the end insert-
"(8A) The condition in this subsection is that
the Director of Public Prosecutions has given his consent to the
application.".
Public order offences
This amendment removes insulting words or behaviour
from the Public Order Act offences of harassment, alarm or distress.
(Paragraph …)
Harassment, alarm or distress: insulting words
or behaviour
To move the following clause-
"(1) The Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64) is amended
as follows.
(2) In sections 5(1)(a) and 5(1)(b), the words "abusive
or insulting" are replaced by the words "or abusive".".
202 Bill 72, 2008-09. Back
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