The Powers of Coroners

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21510, 27 June 1935, Page 10

The Powers of Coroners

By prohibiting' the coroner from proceeding with the enquiry into the presumed death of James Smith, the Supreme Court of New South Wales has provoked an interesting discussion on the powers of coroners and the procedure in coronial enquiries. Ihc immediate point at issue was whether an inquest could be held on a portion of the body. Mr Justice H'alse Rogers argued ingeniously that, if a detached arm was a body, then the possibility arose that several inquests might be held on the same body; and he therefore ruled that in this case the enquiry could not proceed. In New Zealand, it is interesting to note, the Coroners Amendment Act of 1930 authorises the Attorney-General to direct an inquest to be held where there is reason to believe that a death has occurred and that the body has either been destroyed or is not recoverable. Whether this section covers the finding of a portion of a body it would be difficult to say. The point is, perhaps, more interesting than important. What hi important is the other point raised by the counsel for the witness Brady: namely, that his client's interests were being unfairly prejudiced by some of the evidence adduced at the inquest. In Great Britain and Australia, and to a less extent in New Zealand, an inquest sometimes develops, as a result of the police evidence, into wiiat is virtually a trial. The practice can give rise to serious abuses, since the coroner can hear evidence which would not be admissible in a criminal court, and which, in sensational cases, usually receives a wide publicity. It has frequently been suggested that the procedure in coroners' courts should be tightened, and that the powers of a coroner should be restricted to a determination of the cause of death. This would mean abolishing the power, possessed by coroners in most parts of the Empire, to name in their findings the person immediately responsible for the death. In Great Britain the subject has lately received much attention and the Government has appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Lord Wright to enquire " whether it is " desirable and practicable to make " changes in the law and practice relating to coroners' inquests."