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Reporting a Death to the Coroner
The Coroner is an independent judicial officer, who has a duty in particular circumstances to enquire into a death, for the purposes of finding out who the deceased was, and how, when and where he or she died.
The Registrar has a duty to report to the Coroner any death where:
the deceased was not attended during his last illness by a registered medical practitioner
the registrar does not have a completed certificate of cause of death
the deceased was not seen by a certifying medical practitioner after death or within 14 days before death
the cause of death is unknown
he has reason to believe the death was unnatural or caused by violence or neglect or abortion or in suspicious circumstances.
the death occurred during an operation or before recovery from anaesthetic (usually, but not necessarily within 24 hours of an operation)
there is reason to believe that the cause of death is related to industrial disease or poisoning.
an apparent stillbirth where there is reason to believe that the child was born alive.
If the death has been reported to the Coroner, the Registrar will be unable to register the death until informed by the Coroner either that he or she does not intend to hold an inquest or he receives the necessary registration documents from the coroner after the inquest has concluded.
When a death occurs and a person is aware that there are circumstances that would require an inquest to be held, that person has a legal duty to notify the Coroner. The right to dispose of a body is subject to this duty to report the death to the Coroner and it is an offence to bury or dispose of a body in order to prevent the Coroner making enquiries or holding an inquest. It is also an offence to obstruct a Coroner in the exercise of his or her duty, for example, by concealing a body or denying access to it.
The Coroner should be notified if, for example, the death was sudden and the cause is unknown, or if there is any suggestion of medical error or that some accident or industrial disease occurring before the death was a causative factor. Even if there is only a suspicion that any of these factors exist or contributed to the death, the matter should be reported to the Coroner before the body is buried or cremated. Any relatives or anyone close to the deceased who is concerned about the circumstances of a death and suspects foul play, medical error, accident or neglect should contact the local Coroner, whose details can be obtained from the local police station.
Apart from the general duty of notification above there is a specific legal duty on authorities to report to the Coroner certain deaths, for example if the deceased person died in a prison, detention centre or young offender’s institution. There is however, no duty to report to a Coroner the death of a patient compulsorily detained in a mental hospital.
See also THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE DETAINED UNDER THE MENTAL HEALTH ACT 1983.
There may be religious or other reasons why relatives wish to avoid delay before disposal of the body, and in some areas religious groups have sought to make special arrangements with the registrars and Coroners in their districts for occasions when a death occurs outside normal working hours. In some districts the Registrar will provide an out-of-hours service and Coroner will arrange for post mortem examinations to take place at the weekend in order to facilitate early burial. In some districts the Coroner may permit an alternative to an invasive post mortem examination where this is possible to ascertain cause of death in this way. These arrangements are not, however, uniform throughout the country and the Chair of the Shipman Inquiry suggested that the reasonable expectations of all sections of the community should be met and systems developed to facilitate speed in completing post-death formalities and to take into consideration objections to a post mortem examination.
The Registrar has a duty to report to the Coroner any death where:
the deceased was not attended during his last illness by a registered medical practitioner
the registrar does not have a completed certificate of cause of death
the deceased was not seen by a certifying medical practitioner after death or within 14 days before death
the cause of death is unknown
he has reason to believe the death was unnatural or caused by violence or neglect or abortion or in suspicious circumstances.
the death occurred during an operation or before recovery from anaesthetic (usually, but not necessarily within 24 hours of an operation)
there is reason to believe that the cause of death is related to industrial disease or poisoning.
an apparent stillbirth where there is reason to believe that the child was born alive.
If the death has been reported to the Coroner, the Registrar will be unable to register the death until informed by the Coroner either that he or she does not intend to hold an inquest or he receives the necessary registration documents from the coroner after the inquest has concluded.
When a death occurs and a person is aware that there are circumstances that would require an inquest to be held, that person has a legal duty to notify the Coroner. The right to dispose of a body is subject to this duty to report the death to the Coroner and it is an offence to bury or dispose of a body in order to prevent the Coroner making enquiries or holding an inquest. It is also an offence to obstruct a Coroner in the exercise of his or her duty, for example, by concealing a body or denying access to it.
The Coroner should be notified if, for example, the death was sudden and the cause is unknown, or if there is any suggestion of medical error or that some accident or industrial disease occurring before the death was a causative factor. Even if there is only a suspicion that any of these factors exist or contributed to the death, the matter should be reported to the Coroner before the body is buried or cremated. Any relatives or anyone close to the deceased who is concerned about the circumstances of a death and suspects foul play, medical error, accident or neglect should contact the local Coroner, whose details can be obtained from the local police station.
Apart from the general duty of notification above there is a specific legal duty on authorities to report to the Coroner certain deaths, for example if the deceased person died in a prison, detention centre or young offender’s institution. There is however, no duty to report to a Coroner the death of a patient compulsorily detained in a mental hospital.
See also THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE DETAINED UNDER THE MENTAL HEALTH ACT 1983.
There may be religious or other reasons why relatives wish to avoid delay before disposal of the body, and in some areas religious groups have sought to make special arrangements with the registrars and Coroners in their districts for occasions when a death occurs outside normal working hours. In some districts the Registrar will provide an out-of-hours service and Coroner will arrange for post mortem examinations to take place at the weekend in order to facilitate early burial. In some districts the Coroner may permit an alternative to an invasive post mortem examination where this is possible to ascertain cause of death in this way. These arrangements are not, however, uniform throughout the country and the Chair of the Shipman Inquiry suggested that the reasonable expectations of all sections of the community should be met and systems developed to facilitate speed in completing post-death formalities and to take into consideration objections to a post mortem examination.
