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The Government has announced revisions to its draft Coroners Bill and has committed to bringing the draft Bill before parliament as soon as parliamentary time allows. For public authorities the most important changes concern the powers of Coroners to make recommendations, to require documents, to require a jury for workplace deaths and, for relevant authorities, the administration of the Coroner service. Public authorities need to know and understand how the Coroner service will operate so that they can engage effectively with the Coroner and avoid unnecessary criticism.
Background
The draft Coroners Bill was published in June 2006 and has since then been the subject of extensive consultation.
The fundamental aims of the Coroners Bill remain unaltered, namely to put bereaved families at the heart of the coronial system by giving them new powers to challenge Coroners' decisions, to increase Coroners' investigatory powers, to introduce a new appeals process and to introduce national leadership through the appointment of a Chief Coroner. However, a number of notable changes to the draft Bill have now been made.
Learning from previous incidents
Currently, Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules 1984 allows Coroners to make recommendations to a person or authority with power to take appropriate action where they believe such action could prevent similar fatalities.
The revised Bill now requires organisations receiving such a report from a Coroner to respond. The Chief Coroner will monitor these reports and the responses received and will provide a summary of them in his or her annual report to parliament. In advance of the Bill becoming law, the Government has signalled its intention to strengthen the existing Rule 43, although at present it is unclear what is proposed.
In the meantime, public authorities should expect to see more Rule 43 recommendations from Coroners and should bear in mind that these are invariably announced publicly at the inquest. It is vital for organisations to carry out their own investigations promptly following a death that might be subject to a Coroner's inquiry. Adverse publicity can often be minimised if the organisation is in a position to demonstrate at the inquest that lessons have already been learned from the death.
Strengthening of Coroners' powers to require documents
Currently Coroners do not have the power to require information or documents to be produced to them and have to apply to the High Court for an Order where documents are not disclosed voluntarily. The Bill will simplify this process, giving Coroners powers equivalent to the High Court. This will strengthen Coroners' abilities to carry out in-depth investigations. The revised Bill removes a provision that would have allowed the Lord Chancellor to limit Coroners' powers to require certain classes of documents.
It is important that public authorities have in place proper systems for providing information and documents to the Coroner, as the consequences of not doing so will become more serious in the future.
Inquests with juries
The draft Bill did not require a jury for an inquest into a workplace death. The revised Bill returns to the current position that a jury is required – so as to ensure transparency and accountability.
With the enhancement of the Coroners' powers to make reports to organisations with a view to preventing further deaths, there will be no requirement to summon a jury where the death occurred in circumstances that, if continued, could be prejudicial to the health or safety of the public.
Administrative arrangements
Relevant authorities should be aware that transitional arrangements have now been added to the revised Bill so that the new appointments procedure and changes to Coroners' areas will take effect on the retirement or resignation of the current office holder. The existing responsibility for the provision of Coroners' officers is given a statutory footing.
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