THE New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHER DAILY.) SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1885.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 7490, 30 May 1885, Page 2

THE New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHER DAILY.) S ATURDAY, MAY 30, 1885.

A eecent number of tbe ‘‘Australasian Medical Gazette” contained a short but strong article on the subject of Coroners’ juries, The opinion of our contemporary is that such juries should be abolished, and that in .each district particular Magistrates should i be appointed to make inquiry into all suspicious deaths. The writer says : —“ The evidence taken at this inquiry should be submitted, with the recommendation of the Magistrate sitting, to the Crown Law Officers, who, jf they found the evidence justified it, would fiireot the police to take proceedings against the persons whom the .depositions implicated.” We agree with the proposition Coroner’s juries should be abolished, and have on a previous .occasion g?yeh expression to that opinion; but part of tbe practice suggested as a substitute by the “ Australasian Medical Gazette ” doesnot appear to have much to recommend it. In some instances there would be no necessity to have a special Coroner Magistrate tq hold the inquiry. The duty canid very well be performed by tho Resident trate of the district, Jn the more thickly populated centres there would, as a matter of course, be a» officer specially appointed. Bufc wliy make a recommendation to the Crown Law Officers, and why should the police be directed tp proceedings against tbe persons whom the depositions implicate ? With the [depositions before them the Crown Law Officers would not stand in need of such recommendation, but would fie able to form their own unbiased judgment on the case. The proposal to instruct the police to take proceedings against the persons implicated would seem to indicate that it is usual for the police not to take action until after the inquest. But, as a fact, the police are invariably tbe first to move. The death is reported to them, and they collect the csidenoe which is afterwards submitted to the Coroner's jury. The latter being abolished, the remainder of the present practice might be allowed to stand without much alteration. One of the principal differences between proceed-

ings at a Coroner’slnquestancl proceedings before an ordinary Magistrate’s Court is that, in the former, there is no person charged. There is no “ information," but the evidence may prove that a particular person or persons were criminally instrumental in bringmg about the death, and when that is the case, it may happen that a man is, in his absence, found guilty by the jury, and committed for trial on the Coroner’s warrant. That certainly appears hard on the accused, who, if he had been present and had crossexamined the witnesses, and had given his own evidence, might have fully established his innocence. It is not, however, a case that often happens. Frequently the arrest of the murderer has taken place before the inquest, and then ho is present at the proceedings, and has the right of crossexamination. If found guilty iu his absence he should, when arrested, bo charged before a Magistrate and committed for trial in the ordinary way. But to lay down a rule that iu all cases of Coroners’ Inquests the verdict and proceedings shall be submitted to the Crown Law Officers, and their opinion be obtained before proceedings can be instituted by the police, would be to introduce a cumbrous system which would be far more likely to impede than facilitate the administration of justice. The writing of the article in the “ Australasian Medical Gazette ’’ seems to have been prompted by a case which occurred not long ago in Melbourne, and which naturally excited a great deal of interest, and directed attention to the subject of Coroners’ Inquests generally. A man named Slack, of eccentric habits and conduct, was found dead in his bed, with a large Wound in his throat, and a razor grasped in his hand. The Coroner’s jury returned a verdict of “ suicide, whilst in a state of unsound mind.” The police entertained no suspicion that a murder had been committed, and the cause of death appeared so clear that a post mortem examination was not considered necessary. Some months afterwards, a prisoner in one of the Victorian gaols confessed that he had murdered Slack by throttling him, and had placed the razor in the hands of the corpse for the purpose of creating a belief that suicide had been committed. That story was carefully investigated, and strong corroboration of its truth was obtained. The post moitem examination showed that the cause of death had been as stated by the prisoner, the wound in the throat having been inflicted after death. On the whole of the facta the writer in the ‘‘ Australasian Medical Gazette ” says : —The affair shows how little is gained and how much is lost by the present system of Coroners’ Inquests with juries. In large towns the first twelve men near are caught by the police and sworn in as a jury. Some of these frequently possess but little sense, character, or judgment, whilst a majority of the rest are busy men, who, being kept away from their business by what they consider the trivialities of a Coroner’s Court, are often only too happy to agree to any verdict which will release them quickly, and are not inclined to listen to any more evidence than they are absolutely obliged to, the verdicts arrived at being in frequent instances monuments of absurd folly. One, for instance, on record in New South Wales, on the body of a child which was found on a road, with a fracture of the skull, exposing the brain, is :—‘ We find that the cause of death was sunstroke, in consequence of the rays of the sun having entered the brain through a hole in the head.’ ” But though Slack’s case is made the text of the article against Coroners’ juries, it is evident that the parties principally to blame on that occasion were the police and the Coroner. It was foolish and unusual under such circumstances to dispense with a post mortem examination. Nevertheless we fully endorse the remarks of our contemporary as to the general uselessness of Coroner’s juries. It occasionally happens that jurymen suggest a few important questions, but, as far as our observation goes, those who have njost tq say iq. the course of the inquiry are not generally the wisest of the panel. We were told a day or two ago that the Government Bills for the ensuing session were nearly ready. We trust that there is one dealing with the subject of juries, and amongst them the Coroner’s jury. Mr Tole desires to abolish the Grand Jury, and it would be as well if he would, take the opportunity of effecting a reform in the law relating' to Coroners’ Inquests. There is altogether too much jury service throughont the country.