ABOUT INQUESTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 132, 5 June 1915, Page 9

ABOUT INQUESTS

THE PRESS & THE PUBLIC POSITION OF THE CORONER FUNCTIONS OF THE POLICE. A few days ago. a patient at the Porirua Mental Hospital — a quiet young man who had not given any sign of suicidal tendency — surprised the authorities by taking an opportunity to strangle himself by hanging. In accordance with the usual practice the inquest was held quietly by the District Coroner, Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., and his verdict was that no blame was attachable to the attendants. Knowledge of the fatality came to a local newspaper office, by a channel outside the ordinary course, and thus the news became' public, accidentally. This statement implies no attempt at secrecy on the part ' of anybody in authority, in or out of the hospital. The procedure was wholly in accordance with custom and the law — which this article will set out clearly. ORDINARY INQUESTS. First , of all, it is best to refer to ordinary inquests regarding deaths which have occurred outside of State institutions. Information of the death reaches the police, directly or indirectly, and they communicate with the Coroner, who fixes , the time for an inquest, if he decides that an enquiry is necessary. The arrangements for the inquest are made by the police, and from them the press receives information about' the matter, commonly by the enquiries of a reporter whose , duties require him to keep in touch with the police. It may happen that a police officer or constable will give notice to the press, but there is no legal obligation on either the police or the Coroner to convey such information to the press. It is assumed that the newspapers will be sufficiently alert to " catch " an inquest, and usually this is an easy process. A HANDICAP FOR THE PRESS. In the case of a death at a mental hospital the position of the press is very different. The jurisdiction of a Coroner includes enquiries into "the manner of the death of any person who is killed or drowned, or who dies suddenly, or in prison, or while detained in any mental hospital, and whose body is lying dead." Therefore, every death at a mental hospital is the subject of an inquest. The mental hospital authorities communicate directly with the Coroner ; they do not send news of a death to the police. It is no part of the legal function of a Coroner to consider the press, and therefore the newspapers will not ' know about a pending inquest except I by putting questions, frequently, to the Coroner., The onus is on the press to "discover" an inquest. A PUBLIC COURT, WITHOUT PUBLICITY. An inquest is a Coroner's Court, open to the public. - A proclamation in the schedule of the Act states :— "All manner of persons who have anything to. do at this Court before the , Coroner, draw near and give your attendance.'.' The press may have something to do, in the public interest, at an inquest, but as the law now stands it may be difficult for the press to "give its attendance" in certain cases. Thus a Coroner's Court may be a public court, without publicity. - The papers connected with an inquest are sent by the Coroner to the Justice Department, and they may be -perused by anybody who 4 wishes to examino them — if it is known that an 'inquest has occurred. THE NEW SYSTEM, WITHOUT JURIES. " ■ It is contended that the relation of the press to inquests is made more important by the amended Act, which changed the old jury system, thus (section 2) : — '' (1) Notwithstanding anything in the principal Act, it shall not be necessary for any' Coroner, when holding an inquest, to have the same taken by jurors, unless the Attorney-General directs in any specified case that an inquest shall be so taken. " (2) In the absence of any such direc. tion by the Attorney-General, a Coroner may at any inquest have the same taken either by himself or by jurors, as he thinks fit in the particular case." Experience proved that the compulsory summoning of a jury for all inquests involved an expense which wa* not justified by the ability of an average jury to give appreciable assistance. For example, the inquests concerning the deaths caused by the explosion at Lower Hutt and by the recent leakage of household gas were conducted without juries. The Coroner's opinion was that the subject in each case was mainly one for discussion by experts; a. jury of laymen would not be competent to pass judgment op their testimony. INTENTION OF THE ACT. Apparently the intention of the Act is to offer facilities for a full and free enquiry into any death for which the law ordains a Coroner's inquisition. For instance, section 7 of the amended Act provides: — ' "At any inquest any person who, in ! the opinion of the Coroner, has a sufficient interest in the subject or result of the inquest may attend personally or by counsel, and may examine and crossexamine witnesses ; provided that such examination and cross-examination is relevant to the subject of the inquest, and is conducted according to the law and practices of Coroners' inquests." The flaw in the Act — from the viewpoint of the press— is that the text does not satisfactorily support the intention, j