About the coroners' service

Current Coroners’ Service for Northern Ireland

The Coroners Service for Northern Ireland (CSNI) has a remit for all of Northern Ireland and is headed by a High Court Judge. Coroners in Northern Ireland are either barristers or solicitors and are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. They inquire into deaths that are:

unexpected or unexplained;
as a result of violence;
as a result of an accident;
as a result of negligence;
from any cause other than natural illness or disease, or
in circumstances that may require investigation.

For further information, visit the Coroners Service for Northern Ireland website

History of the Coroners’ Service

Origins

The office of coroner dates back to the early 13^th Century in Ireland. A statute of 1276, De Officio Coronatoris, lists the provisions which are generally considered the basis of modern coronial practice in Ireland as well as in England. The main purpose of the inquests at that time was not to determine criminal liability nor to establish medical cause of death, but rather to protect the financial interests of the Crown. The investigating of such deaths was a lucrative opportunity to raise money for the Crown through a variety of devices such as the confiscation of the property of felons and the forfeiture of sureties.

From the outset, many of the modern procedures were established. For example, unless issued with a special warrant, the coroner had no jurisdiction in the absence of a body. On receiving a report of a body, the coroner had to travel immediately to the locus. There was no autopsy at that time, however the coroner would make a record of the wounds and establish what object was responsible for causing death. By 1500, the role had been established largely in its current form, namely the holding of inquests into sudden deaths. Coroners were elected by twelve men in the county court. To qualify for office, which originally was for life, the coroner had to reside in the county, be a “wise and discreet” knight and to be of substantial means.

Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Legislation

In 1846, the Coroners (Ireland) Act was passed which overhauled all aspects of coronial law and practice in Ireland and established the basis for the holding of inquests in Ireland. Provision was made for the division of each county into coroners’ districts and for the election by parliamentary electors of a “resident” coroner with the necessary property qualifications. The newly elected coroners were to be paid a fixed fee for each inquest and limited travelling expenses. In 1860, the Borough Coroners (Ireland) Act further empowered the cities of Belfast and Londonderry with the power to appoint their own coroners and to provide remuneration. The 1846 Act was superseded by the Coroners (Ireland) Act 1881 which established the role of coroner as a profession. Coroners were to receive an annual salary and had to be a qualified barrister, solicitor or a justice of the peace. Section 14 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 later abolished the system whereby coroners were elected and instead made them local authority appointments. The last significant piece of Irish legislation prior to partition was The Coroners (Ireland) Act 1908 which provided for the appointment of deputy coroners.

Northern Ireland legislation

There would be no further pieces of major legislation until the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959, although there would be a few minor enactments such as the Coroners (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 1955, which was concerned primarily with coroners’ juries. The impetus for the 1959 Act came as a result of the Wright Committee in England and Wales which recommended that:

coroners jurisdiction be limited to the investigation of the facts;
only solicitors and barristers could be appointed as coroners;
coroner no longer to have power to commit any person for trial on a charge of murder, manslaughter or infanticide;
verdicts of censure or exoneration to be prohibited;
laws of evidence to be observed in cases involving criminality;
coroner to be obliged to adjourn an inquest for 14 days, if requested by a Chief Officer of Police;
coroner to have discretion to dispense with holding a[n] inquest in the case of deaths due to simple accidents;
coroner should have a discretion whether or not to view a body.

The 1959 Act also replaced local authorities with the Ministry of Home Affairs as the functionally responsible body for administering the coroners’ courts.

The Broderick Committee

In 1971, the Broderick Report in England and Wales established that the accurate certification of the cause of death had now become the most important function of the coroner. In particular, the Broderick Committee recommended that the coroner should:

have a statutory duty “to determine the identity of the deceased and the fact and cause of death”;
make enquiries in order to decide whether a post-mortem examination or an inquest or some other action is required;
“properly interested persons” should be given an “absolute” right to participate in an inquest, and legal aid should be made available to enable them to be legally represented;
coroner should have discretion to hold a “short” inquest based exclusively on documentary evidence;
abolition of the duty of a coroner’s jury to name the person responsible for causing a death and the coroner’s obligation to commit a named person for trial;
the term “verdict” should be abandoned and replaced by “findings”.

For further reading, see Coroners’ Law and Practice in Northern Ireland, John L. Leckey, LL.M, SLS Legal Publications (NI) 1998, and the Coroners Service website, http://www.coronersni.gov.uk/aboutus.htm