Minister Flanagan announces final commencement of provisions of the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019
- Published on: 21 February 2020
- Last updated on: 28 June 2021
- Act clarifies and broadens the scope of enquiries at inquest
- significant modernisation of the 1962 Act will reassure the next of kin of deceased persons
- this final commencement will increase capacity for Dublin Coroner Office
The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, announced today the full and final commencement of the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019. This Act amends the existing Principal Act (the Coroners Act 1962) to significantly enhance and modernise the powers available to coroners in the reporting, investigation and inquest into an increased range of reportable deaths.
The Minister said:
"I am very pleased to be able to fully commence the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019. Essentially, this involves the commencement of the outstanding provision of the Act to improve the capacity of the Dublin Coroner Office which will now be able to conduct more inquiries into deaths."
The Coroners (Amendment) Act (Commencement) (No. 2) Order 2020, S.I. No. 51 of 2020, concerns Section 8, which permits the Deputy Coroner to act simultaneously with the Coroner for a period of 2 years. It will improve the capacity of the Dublin Coroner’s Office to increase the numbers of inquiries into deaths under the Act and help reduce the backlog of inquests awaiting hearing. As a consequence of the commencement, the Minister has designated the Dublin Coroner, Dr. Myra Cullinane, as the Senior Coroner.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor:
The Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019 was signed into law on 23 July, 2019 by the Presidential Commission. The Act contains a number of new provisions to strengthen the effectiveness of the coroner’s inquest, and improve compliance with our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
These provisions include:
- clarifying that the purpose of the inquest goes beyond establishing the medical cause of death, to establishing the circumstances in which death took place (though it will remain the position that an inquest does not make any finding of civil or criminal liability)
- express requirements for mandatory reporting and inquest in all maternal and late maternal deaths
- express requirements for mandatory reporting and inquest of a death occurring in a range of situations which constitute State custody or detention
- mandatory reporting to a coroner of all stillbirths, intrapartum deaths and infant deaths and, for the first time, a statutory basis for the coroner to enquire into a stillbirth where there is cause for concern (this normally arises from matters raised by the bereaved parents)
- it is now an offence for a responsible person not to report a mandatory reportable death to the coroner
- specific provisions on notice of an inquest to be provided to family members of the deceased person
Commencement of the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019
On 16 September 2019, the Minister commenced the majority of sections of the Act by the Coroners (Amendment) Act (Commencement) Order 2019 S.I. No. 448 of 2019.
On 16 January 2020, the Minister commenced the following sections of the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019 by Coroners (Amendment) Act (Commencement) Order 2020 S.I. No. 12 of 2020.
(No. 29 of 2019):
- (a) section 21; Post-mortem examinations and related matters (insertion of new sections 33 and 33A to 33E);
- (b) sections 23 to 25;
section 23 Amendment of section 37 of the Principal Act (witnesses art inquest).
section 24 Power with respect to the taking of evidence, etc. at inquest
section 25 Taking of evidence from person about to leave State.
(c) section 36; Directions of the High Court (the new case stated procedure).
(d) section 39(d); Repeal of sections 19 and 52 of the Coroners Act 1962 relating to post-mortem examination arrangements.
On 17 February, 2020, Rules of the Superior Courts (Coroners) 2020 S.I. No. 43 of 2020 brought Order No. 139 Applications under the Coroner Acts 1962 into effect.
On 21 February, 2020, the Minister commenced the outstanding final provision of the Act, section 8 relating to certain administrative arrangements for the Dublin Coroner Office by the Coroners (Amendment) Act (Commencement) (No. 2) Order 2020 S.I. No. 51 of 2020. The Dublin Coroner Office is one of the busiest such offices in the common law world where the coronial system operates.
Section 8 provides as follows:
- Arrangements for coroner’s district of Dublin
8. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 13:
“13A. (1) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of section 13, the Minister may, upon a request in writing in that behalf from a coroner for the coroner’s district of Dublin, authorise a deputy coroner appointed by that coroner to act for that coroner—
(a) during a period, specified in the authorisation, that ends no later than 2 years from the commencement of section 8 of the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019, and
(b) in any circumstances (not limited to the circumstances specified in that subsection),
for the purpose of increasing the number and progress of inquiries into deaths under this Act in that district during that period.
(2) A deputy coroner for the coroner’s district of Dublin who is authorised under subsection (1) to act for a coroner for that district shall, for the period while the authorisation is in force, have all the powers and duties of the coroner for that district and he or she shall be paid in respect of that period such salary as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine.”