Coroners can seek search warrants under new Bill
Coroners will get beefed-up powers to probe deaths under a Bill published in August.
The Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2018 considerably strengthens coroner powers to probe deaths. Under the new Bill, a coroner with a District Court warrant can search premises and seize documents or material for inquest evidence.
Justice minister Charlie Flanagan said the Bill was a personal priority. It will widen the scope for inquest inquiry, which will no longer be limited to establishing medical causes but will probe circumstances of the death.
It remains the position that an inquest will not make any finding of civil or criminal liability.
Post-mortem
Of 11,856 deaths reported to coroners in Ireland in 2017, 3,338 went for post-mortem examination, and 2,143 went to inquest.
“The public importance of effective, transparent, and independent investigation in such cases is obvious,” said Justice minister Charlie Flanagan, pointing out that the Bill dovetails with Ireland’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
In particular, maternal and peri-natal deaths and intrapartum and stillbirths, which raise issues of medical error and are “unnatural deaths” under the Coroners Act 1962, are now subject to mandatory reporting and inquest.
Maternal deaths
The Confidential Maternal Death Enquiry, published by UCC in December 2017, identified 53 maternal or late maternal deaths between 2009-2015, an average of just under eight per year.
The minister added: “These changes to the law will ensure clarity for responsible persons, including hospital authorities, and will support the development of transparent and accountable oversight for checking and investigating certain types of death.”
Deaths in state custody or detention also come under the Bill, with an express requirement for mandatory reporting, post-mortem examination and inquest.
The Bill includes a detailed list of specific examples of deaths subject to mandatory reporting.
Specified amendments, subject to the advice of the Attorney General, are also on the table:
- a statutory basis for a coroner to inquire into a stillbirth (defined as 24 weeks’ gestation or more) where there is cause for concern, for example, arising from matters raised by the bereaved parents
- a coroner may seek directions from the High Court on a point of law in relation to the performance of their functions
- regulations on the proper storage and disposal of any material removed for post-mortem, including return to a family member where requested
- coroner powers to compel medical institutions to make available medical records of the deceased, for post-mortem.
The minister acknowledged the work of Clare Daly TD on the issue of maternal deaths, which fed into the Bill’s amendments.
The Coroners Bill 2007 passed Second Stage in the Seanad in October of that year and proposed comprehensive reform of coronial law, but did not proceed because of the dire state of the public finances at the time.
Elements of the Coroners Bill 2007 have contributed to the current Bill, though there have been significant updates to take account of forensic developments.
Reporting a death to a coroner does not mean that it is automatically subject to a post-mortem examination or an inquest.