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Queensland
CORONERS BILL 2002
Queensland
CORONERS BILL 2002
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
PART 1--PRELIMINARY
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Commencement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3 Object of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5 Relationship with other Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
PART 2--REPORTING DEATHS
7 Duty to report deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 "Reportable death" defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9 "Death in care" defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
10 "Death in custody" defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
PART 3--CORONER'S INVESTIGATION, INCLUDING BY
INQUEST, OF DEATHS
Division 1--Investigations generally
11 Deaths to be investigated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
12 Deaths not to be investigated or further investigated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
13 Coroner's powers of investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
14 Guidelines and directions for investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
15 Help in investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
16 Duty to help investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
17 Disclosure of confidential information to Coroners Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Division 2--Autopsies
18 Transferring body to mortuary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
19 Order for autopsy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
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Coroners Bill 2002
20 Exhuming body or recovering cremated remains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
21 Observing an autopsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
22 Extra medical evidence for autopsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
23 Autopsy testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
24 Removing tissue for autopsy testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
25 Autopsy reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
26 Control of body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Division 3--Inquests
27 When inquest must be held . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
28 When inquest may be held . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
29 When inquest must not be held or continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
30 Applying for inquest to be held. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
31 Inquests to be held by the Coroners Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
32 Notice of inquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
33 Inquest into multiple deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
34 Pre-inquest conferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
35 Directions or orders about inquests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
36 Right to appear etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
37 Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
38 Incriminating evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
39 Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
40 Prohibited publications relating to inquests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
41 Contempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
42 Excluding persons from inquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
43 Adjourning inquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
44 Coroner's findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
45 Coroner's comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
46 Coroner's comments and findings for deaths in care or custody. . . . . . . . . . 38
47 Reporting offences or misconduct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
48 Reporting to State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
49 Reopening inquests etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
50 Record of coroner's findings and comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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Coroners Bill 2002
Division 4--Accessing investigation documents
51 Documents that can not be accessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
52 Access to investigation documents for research purposes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
53 Access to investigation documents for other purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
54 Conditions imposed on access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
55 Refusing access in the public interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
56 Coroner to pass on refused request for investigation document . . . . . . . . . . 46
57 Identifying coronial documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Division 5--Physical evidence
58 What division applies to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
59 Returning physical evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
60 Forfeiting physical evidence to the State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
61 Access to physical evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Division 6--Transferring investigation to another coroner
62 Transferring investigation to another coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
PART 4--ADMINISTRATION
Division 1--Coroners Court
63 The Coroners Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
64 Jurisdiction of the court is exclusive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
65 Where the court may be held. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
66 Seals of the court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
67 Rule-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
68 Practice directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Division 2--State Coroner
69 Appointment of State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
70 Functions and powers of State Coroner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
71 Resignation of State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
72 When person stops being the State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
73 Acting as State Coroner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
74 Staff of the State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
75 Consulting with Chief Magistrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
76 Annual report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
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Coroners Bill 2002
Division 3--Deputy State Coroner
77 Appointment of Deputy State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
78 Functions and powers of Deputy State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
79 When person stops being the Deputy State Coroner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
80 Acting as Deputy State Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Division 4--Other coroners
81 Local coroners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
82 Appointed coroners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 5--Registrar and deputy registrars
83 Registrar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
84 Deputy registrars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
85 Delegation of powers to registrar or deputy registrars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 6--Other general provisions about coroners
86 Obstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
87 Immunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
88 Coroner as witness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
89 Coroner's orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
90 Coroner's service counts as magistrate's service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
PART 5--MISCELLANEOUS
91 Register of deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
92 National coronial database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
93 Evidentiary aids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
94 Authorising burial of body etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
95 Application of Act to stillborn child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
96 Meaning of "de facto partner". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
97 Approval of forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
98 Regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
PART 6--TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
99 When repealed Act still applies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
100 Appointments continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
101 Orders continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
102 References to repealed Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
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Coroners Bill 2002
103 Common law overridden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
PART 7--REPEAL
104 Repeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
PART 8--CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
105 Consequential amendments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
SCHEDULE 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS ACT 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
EVIDENCE ACT 1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE ACT 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
HEALTH SERVICES ACT 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
POLICE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES ACT 2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITIES ACT 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES ACT 1962 75
TRANSPLANTATION AND ANATOMY ACT 1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
SCHEDULE 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
DICTIONARY
2002
A BILL
FOR
An Act to provide for a coronial system, and for other purposes
s1 8 s4
Coroners Bill 2002
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
PART 1--PRELIMINARY 2
1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Coroners Act 2002. 4
2 Commencement 5
This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 6
3 Object of Act 7
The object of this Act is to-- 8
(a) establish the position of the State Coroner; and 9
(b) require the reporting of particular deaths; and 10
(c) establish the procedures for investigations, including by holding 11
inquests, by coroners into particular deaths; and 12
(d) help to prevent deaths from similar causes happening in the 13
future by allowing coroners at inquests to comment on matters 14
connected with deaths, including matters related to-- 15
(i) public health or safety; or 16
(ii) the administration of justice. 17
4 Act binds all persons 18
This Act binds all persons, including the State and, so far as the 19
legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Commonwealth and the 20
other States. 21
s5 9 s7
Coroners Bill 2002
5 Relationship with other Acts 1
(1) This Act is subject to the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950, 2
section 4A.1 3
(2) This Act does not limit or otherwise affect the functions or powers 4
of-- 5
(a) a police officer or other person to investigate a death under 6
another Act; or 7
(b) a police officer to do something other than an investigation under 8
this Act. 9
10
Example--
11
A police officer helping a coroner to investigate a death may at the same time
12
investigate whether the death was a homicide.
6 Definitions 13
The dictionary in schedule 2 defines particular words used in this Act. 14
PART 2--REPORTING DEATHS 15
7 Duty to report deaths 16
(1) This section applies if-- 17
(a) a person becomes aware of a death that appears to be a reportable 18
death; and 19
(b) the person does not reasonably believe that someone else has 20
already reported, or is reporting, the death under subsection (2). 21
(2) The person must immediately report the death to-- 22
(a) if the death is a death in custody--the State Coroner or Deputy 23
State Coroner; or 24
(b) otherwise--a police officer or coroner. 25
Maximum penalty--25 penalty units. 26
1 Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950, section 4A (Interaction of commission with
courts etc.)
s8 10 s8
Coroners Bill 2002
(3) A police officer to whom a reportable death is reported must report 1
the death to a coroner in writing. 2
(4) However, if a death is reported to a police officer because a cause of 3
death certificate has not been issued and is not likely to be issued, the 4
officer need not report the death to a coroner until satisfied that the cause of 5
death certificate is not likely to be issued. 6
(5) A coroner to whom a death is reported must report the death to the 7
State Coroner in writing. 8
(6) In this section-- 9
"report" includes report by email or fax. 10
8 "Reportable death" defined 11
(1) A person's death is a "reportable death" only if the death is a death 12
to which subsection (2) and subsection (3) both apply. 13
(2) A death is a "reportable death" if-- 14
(a) the death happened in Queensland; or 15
(b) although the death happened outside Queensland-- 16
(i) the person's body is in Queensland; or 17
(ii) at the time of death, the person ordinarily lived in 18
Queensland; or 19
(iii) the person, at the time of death, was on a journey to or from 20
somewhere in Queensland; or 21
(iv) the death was caused by an event that happened in 22
Queensland. 23
(3) A death is a "reportable death" if-- 24
(a) it is not known who the person is; or 25
(b) the death was a violent or otherwise unnatural death; or 26
(c) the death happened in suspicious circumstances; or 27
(d) the death was not reasonably expected to be the outcome of a 28
health procedure; or 29
(e) a cause of death certificate has not been issued, and is not likely 30
to be issued, for the person; or 31
s9 11 s9
Coroners Bill 2002
(f) the death was a death in care; or 1
(g) the death was a death in custody; or 2
(h) the person had not consulted a doctor within 3 months before the 3
person's death. 4
5
Examples of paragraph (b)--
6
Death as a consequence of asphyxiation, drowning, electrocution, fire, poisoning or
7
trauma.
8
Examples of paragraph (d)--
9
1. A person's bowel is mistakenly perforated during an operation. Because of this, the
10
person develops peritonitis and dies. Death from peritonitis was not reasonably expected
11
to be the outcome of the operation.
12
2. A person is injected with a drug as part of a medical procedure. The person has an
13
adverse reaction to the drug and dies. The death was not reasonably expected to be the
14
outcome of the procedure.
(4) However, a death that happened outside Queensland is not a 15
reportable death if the death has been reported to a non-Queensland 16
coroner. 17
9 "Death in care" defined 18
(1) A person's death is a "death in care" if, when the person died-- 19
(a) the person had a disability mentioned in the Disability Services 20
Act 1992, section 5,2 and-- 21
(i) was living in a level 3 accredited residential service; or 22
(ii) was receiving residential services operated, or wholly or 23
partly funded, by the department in which the Disability 24
Services Act 1992 is administered; or 25
(iii) was living at a place-- 26
(A) that is not a private dwelling or aged care facility; and 27
(B) that is wholly or partly funded by the department in 28
which the Health Services Act 1991 is administered or 29
at which that department provides services; or 30
(b) the person was, under the Mental Health Act 2000-- 31
2 Disability Services Act 1992, section 5 (Disabilities covered by this Act)
s9 12 s9
Coroners Bill 2002
(i) being taken to a place where there is an authorised mental 1
health service under section 25, 39, 292 or 508 of that Act;3 2
or 3
(ii) being taken to, or detained in, a place where there is an 4
authorised mental health service as an involuntary patient or 5
under an emergency examination order; or 6
(iii) being detained because of a court order under 7
section 101(2), 273(1)(b), 337(6) or 422(1)4 of that Act; or 8
(iv) undertaking limited community treatment while 9
accompanied by an employee of a health service; or 10
(c) the person was under the guardianship of the chief executive 11
under the Adoption of Children Act 1964, section 27;5 or 12
(d) the person was a child placed in the care of a licensed care 13
service, approved foster carer, or other person under the Child 14
Protection Act 1999, section 82.6 15
(2) Subsection (1)(b) applies even if, immediately before the person was 16
detained, the person was in the custody of the chief executive (corrective 17
services) under the Corrective Services Act 2000. 18
(3) Subsection (1) applies even if the person died somewhere other than 19
the place where the person ordinarily lived for the purposes of being in 20
care. 21
22
Example--
23
A child placed in the care of an approved foster carer becomes ill and is taken to
24
hospital. The child dies while in hospital. The child's death is a death in care.
(4) In this section-- 25
3 Mental Health Act 2000, section 25 (Taking person to authorised mental health
service), 39 (Taking of person to authorised mental health service for examination),
292 (Taking patient to authorised mental health service) or 508 (Taking patient to
authorised mental health service)
4 Mental Health Act 2000, section 101 (Court may order person's detention in
authorised mental health service), 273 (Orders about custody), 337 (Appeal powers)
or 422 (Court examination orders)
5 Adoption of Children Act 1964, section 27 (Guardianship of child awaiting
adoption)
6 Child Protection Act 1999, section 82 (Placing child in care)
s 10 13 s 10
Coroners Bill 2002
"level 3 accredited residential service" means a residential service that 1
has, or is required to apply for, a level 3 accreditation under the 2
Residential Services (Accreditation) Act 2002. 3
10 "Death in custody" defined 4
(1) A person's death is a "death in custody" if, when the person died, 5
the person was-- 6
(a) in custody; or 7
(b) escaping, or trying to escape, from custody; or 8
(c) trying to avoid being put into custody. 9
10
Example of paragraph (c)--
11
A suspected bank robber who dies in a car crash while being pursued by
12
police.
(2) In this section-- 13
"custody" means detention-- 14
(a) by a police officer; or 15
(b) under the Corrective Services Act 2000-- 16
(i) in a corrective services facility or watch-house; or 17
(ii) under the escort of a corrective services officer; or 18
(iii) by a law enforcement agency; or 19
(iv) by the proper officer of a court; or 20
(c) under the Corrective Services Act 2000, section 104;7 or 21
(d) under the Juvenile Justice Act 1992, section 41, 43, 120 or 121.8 22
"detention" includes detention under-- 23
(a) arrest; or 24
7 Corrective Services Act 2000, section 104 (Temporary detention for security
offences)
8 Juvenile Justice Act 1992, section 41 (Custody of child pending court appearance),
43 (Custody of child if not released by court), 120 (Sentence orders--general) or
121 (Sentence orders--serious offences)
s 11 14 s 11
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) the authority of a court order; or 1
(c) the authority of an Act. 2
PART 3--CORONER'S INVESTIGATION, INCLUDING 3
BY INQUEST, OF DEATHS 4
Division 1--Investigations generally 5
11 Deaths to be investigated 6
(1) This section outlines-- 7
(a) the type of deaths that may be investigated under this Act; and 8
(b) the type of coroner who conducts the investigations. 9
(2) A coroner must, and may only, investigate a death if the coroner-- 10
(a) considers the death is a reportable death, whether or not the death 11
was reported under section 7;9 and 12
(b) is not aware that any other coroner is investigating the death. 13
(3) Also, a coroner must investigate a death if the State Coroner directs 14
the coroner to investigate the death. 15
(4) The State Coroner may direct a coroner to investigate a death if-- 16
(a) the State Coroner considers the death is a reportable death; or 17
(b) the State Coroner has been directed by the Minister to have the 18
death investigated, whether or not the death is a reportable death. 19
20
Example--
21
The Minister might direct the State Coroner to investigate the death of a Queensland
22
person that happened overseas, even though the death was investigated by a coroner
23
overseas, if the Minister is concerned that the overseas investigation was not
24
comprehensive enough.
(5) Also, a coroner must investigate the suspected death of a person if 25
the State Coroner directs the coroner to investigate the suspected death. 26
9 Section 7 (Duty to report deaths)
s 12 15 s 12
Coroners Bill 2002
(6) The State Coroner may direct a coroner to investigate a suspected 1
death if-- 2
(a) the State Coroner-- 3
(i) suspects that the person is dead; and 4
(ii) considers the death is a reportable death; or 5
(b) the Minister directs the State Coroner to have the suspected death 6
investigated. 7
(7) Despite subsection (2), a death in custody must be investigated by the 8
State Coroner or Deputy State Coroner. 9
12 Deaths not to be investigated or further investigated 10
(1) A coroner must not investigate a death, unless directed to do so by 11
the Minister, if-- 12
(a) the death happened in another State and has been reported to a 13
non-Queensland coroner; or 14
(b) the death happened outside Australia. 15
(2) A coroner must stop investigating a death if-- 16
(a) the coroner's investigation shows that the body is indigenous 17
burial remains; or 18
(b) the coroner's investigation of 1 of the following types of death 19
shows that an autopsy of the body is not necessary and the 20
coroner decides to authorise a doctor to issue a cause of death 21
certificate-- 22
(i) a death that was a violent or otherwise unnatural death; or 23
(ii) a death that happened in suspicious circumstances; or 24
(iii) a death that was not reasonably expected to be the outcome 25
of a health procedure; or 26
(iv) a death that was a death in care; or 27
(v) a death where the person had not consulted a doctor within 28
3 months before the person's death; or 29
(c) an autopsy of the body, ordered by the coroner, shows that the 30
body is that of a stillborn child; or 31
(d) the State Coroner directs the coroner to stop the investigation; or 32
s 13 16 s 14
Coroners Bill 2002
(e) the coroner becomes aware that the death is a death mentioned in 1
subsection (1), unless the Minister directs the coroner to continue 2
the investigation. 3
(3) If the coroner stops investigating the death under subsection (2)(e), 4
the coroner may give the results of the coroner's investigation, including 5
any autopsy report, to a non-Queensland coroner who is investigating the 6
death. 7
13 Coroner's powers of investigation 8
(1) This section applies to a coroner who is investigating a death under 9
this Act, whether before or during an inquest. 10
(2) The coroner may make, or arrange for, any examination, inspection, 11
report or test that the coroner considers is necessary for the investigation. 12
(3) For the purposes of the investigation, the coroner may issue a search 13
warrant under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 14
371AD(1).10 15
(4) The coroner may be present while a police officer exercises powers 16
under the search warrant. 17
14 Guidelines and directions for investigations 18
(1) To ensure best practice in the coronial system, the State Coroner-- 19
(a) may issue directions to the coroner investigating a particular 20
death about a particular aspect of the investigation; and 21
(b) must issue guidelines to all coroners about the performance of 22
their functions in relation to investigations generally. 23
24
Example--
25
A guideline to help coroners make decisions about the release of documents under this
26
Act.
(2) When preparing the guidelines, the State Coroner must have regard 27
to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths 28
in Custody that relate to the investigation of deaths in custody. 29
(3) The guidelines must-- 30
10 Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 371AD (Coroner's search
warrant)
s 15 17 s 16
Coroners Bill 2002
(a) deal with the investigations of deaths in custody; and 1
(b) deal with investigations of deaths involving human remains 2
found in a suspected traditional burial site, and in particular, must 3
provide for the early notification and involvement of the 4
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community having a 5
connection with the burial site; and 6
(c) list the doctors who are approved by the State Coroner to conduct 7
particular types of autopsies, either by name or by reference to 8
particular qualifications. 9
(4) When investigating a death, a coroner must comply with the 10
guidelines and any directions issued to the coroner to the greatest 11
practicable extent. 12
(5) However, to the extent that a direction conflicts with the guidelines, a 13
coroner must comply with the direction. 14
(6) In this section-- 15
"direction" does not include a direction as to what finding a coroner may 16
make for an investigation. 17
"traditional burial site" means a place that is a traditional Aboriginal or 18
Torres Strait Islander burial site. 19
15 Help in investigation 20
(1) During the investigation of a death, a coroner may seek the help of a 21
lawyer or other person who the coroner reasonably believes can help the 22
coroner investigate the death. 23
(2) The duty of a police officer to help a coroner is stated in the Police 24
Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 447A.11 25
16 Duty to help investigation 26
(1) This section applies if-- 27
(a) a coroner is investigating a death; and 28
11 Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 447A (Assisting coroner to
investigate a death)
s 17 18 s 17
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) the coroner reasonably believes a person may be able to give the 1
coroner information that is relevant to the investigation. 2
(2) The coroner may require the person to give the coroner information 3
that is relevant to the investigation. 4
(3) The requirement may be made orally or in writing. 5
(4) When making the requirement, the coroner must warn the person it is 6
an offence to fail to give the information unless the person has a reasonable 7
excuse. 8
(5) The person must give the information, unless the person has a 9
reasonable excuse. 10
Maximum penalty--30 penalty units. 11
(6) It is, for example, a reasonable excuse for a person to fail to give the 12
information if giving the information would tend to incriminate the person. 13
17 Disclosure of confidential information to Coroners Court 14
(1) This section applies to a provision in another Act that enables the 15
release of confidential information to-- 16
(a) a court; or 17
(b) a party to a proceeding before a court. 18
19
Examples--
20
Juvenile Justice Act 1992, section 224AR (Production of department's records)
21
Child Protection Act, section 186 (Confidentiality of notifiers of harm) or 190
22
(Production of department's records)
(2) The provision is taken to enable the disclosure of the information to 23
the Coroners Court as if-- 24
(a) a reference to the court is a reference to the Coroners Court; or 25
(b) a reference to a proceeding is a reference to an inquest; or 26
(c) a reference to a party is a reference to-- 27
(i) a police officer, lawyer or other person helping the Coroners 28
Court; or 29
(ii) a person who is to appear or is appearing at the inquest. 30
(3) To remove doubt, it is declared that this section does not negate 31
anything in a provision that-- 32
s 18 19 s 18
Coroners Bill 2002
(a) allows a person to refuse to release confidential information or 1
produce a document containing confidential information; and 2
3
Example--
4
The Health Rights Commission Act 1991, section 141(2) (Preservation of
5
confidentiality)
(b) requires a person to consent before information may be released. 6
7
Example--
8
The Health Rights Commission Act 1991, section 91 (Conciliation privileged)
(4) A Coroners Court may only disclose information obtained under this 9
section for a purpose connected with the inquest being conducted by the 10
court. 11
(5) A person who has been given access to confidential information by a 12
Coroners Court, including information in a document, must not directly or 13
indirectly disclose the information-- 14
(a) other than for the inquest; or 15
(b) unless the disclosure is permitted or required under this or 16
another Act. 17
Maximum penalty for subsection (5)--100 penalty units or 2 years 18
imprisonment. 19
Division 2--Autopsies 20
18 Transferring body to mortuary 21
(1) This section applies if a body is to be taken to a mortuary at the 22
direction of-- 23
(a) a coroner; or 24
(b) a police officer under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 25
2000, section 371AB.12 26
(2) A person who is involved in taking the body to the mortuary must 27
comply with-- 28
(a) any direction of the coroner or police officer; or 29
12 Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, Section 371AB (Powers for reportable
deaths)
s 19 20 s 19
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) the guidelines issued by the State Coroner about-- 1
(i) the dignity and respect to be accorded to persons who are at 2
a place from which a body is to be taken, and their cultural 3
traditions or spiritual beliefs; and 4
(ii) the way in which bodies are to be taken to a mortuary. 5
(3) However, to the extent that a direction conflicts with the guidelines, 6
the person must comply with the direction. 7
(4) In this section-- 8
"mortuary" means a mortuary where autopsies ordered by coroners are 9
conducted. 10
19 Order for autopsy 11
(1) Unless a coroner has stopped investigating a death under 12
section 12(2)(a), (b), (d) or (e)13, the coroner must order a doctor to 13
perform an autopsy-- 14
(a) as part of the investigation of a person's death; or 15
(b) to find out whether a body is that of a stillborn child. 16
(2) The autopsy may consist of-- 17
(a) for a body that has been cremated--an examination of the 18
cremated remains of the body; or 19
(b) for a body that has not been cremated-- 20
(i) an external examination of the body; or 21
(ii) an external and partial internal examination of the body; or 22
(iii) an external and full internal examination of the body. 23
24
Example of a partial internal examination--
25
If the only apparent injuries to a deceased person's body are to the person's
26
head, the coroner may consider it appropriate that only the person's head be
27
examined internally.
(3) The coroner must state in the order the type of examination to be 28
conducted. 29
13 Section 12 (Deaths not to be investigated or further investigated)
s 20 21 s 20
Coroners Bill 2002
(4) Before ordering an internal examination of the body, the coroner 1
must, whenever practicable, consider at least the following-- 2
(a) that in some cases a deceased person's family may be distressed 3
by the making of this type of order, for example, because of 4
cultural traditions or spiritual beliefs; 5
(b) any concerns raised by a family member, or another person with 6
a sufficient interest, in relation to the type of examination to be 7
conducted during the autopsy. 8
(5) If, after considering any concern mentioned in subsection (4)(b), the 9
coroner decides it is still necessary to order the internal examination, the 10
coroner must give a copy of the order to the person who raised the concern. 11
(6) The coroner must direct the order to 1 of the doctors who is listed in 12
the guidelines and has the necessary skills to conduct the autopsy having 13
regard to the particular circumstances of the case. 14
15
Example--
16
Particular doctors may have the necessary skills to conduct autopsies on adults but not
17
on children.
(7) However, the coroner must not allow-- 18
(a) a person to conduct or help at the autopsy if the person is 19
accused, by someone on oath before a coroner, of causing the 20
deceased person's death; or 21
(b) an attending doctor to conduct the autopsy, unless the coroner 22
considers it is impracticable to do otherwise. 23
(8) A coroner may make an order under this section even if-- 24
(a) an autopsy has previously been conducted on the body, either 25
under this Act or under another lawful authority; or 26
(b) a cause of death certificate has issued for the deceased person; or 27
(c) the death has previously been investigated under the Coroners 28
Act 1958 or this Act. 29
20 Exhuming body or recovering cremated remains 30
(1) This section applies if, after a body is buried or cremated, the State 31
Coroner forms the belief that the death was a reportable death. 32
(2) To enable an autopsy of a body to be conducted, the State Coroner 33
may order-- 34
s 21 22 s 21
Coroners Bill 2002
(a) if the body was buried--the body to be exhumed; or 1
(b) if the body was cremated and the cremated remains may be 2
recovered--the cremated remains to be recovered. 3
(3) The State Coroner must give at least 2 days notice of the State 4
Coroner's intention to make the order to-- 5
(a) the person in charge of the place where the body is, or the 6
cremated remains are; and 7
(b) any person who the State Coroner considers has a sufficient 8
interest in the autopsy. 9
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply if-- 10
(a) after taking all reasonable steps, the State Coroner can not 11
contact a person mentioned in subsection (3); or 12
(b) the State Coroner considers it is not, in the circumstances, in the 13
public interest to notify a person mentioned in subsection (3). 14
(5) If-- 15
(a) a person has raised a concern in relation to the order being made; 16
but 17
(b) after discussing the matter with the person, the State Coroner 18
considers it is in the public interest for the order to be made; 19
the State Coroner must make the order and give a copy of it to the person. 20
(6) The order authorises a police officer to enter the place stated in the 21
order and stay there for as long as reasonably necessary to exhume the 22
body or recover the cremated remains. 23
(7) The officer must arrange for the body or cremated remains to be 24
taken, in accordance with the directions in the order, to a place stated in the 25
order. 26
(8) The State Coroner must, as soon as reasonably practicable after the 27
autopsy, order the body or cremated remains to be returned to the place 28
from where they were taken. 29
21 Observing an autopsy 30
(1) The coroner may allow a person, or the person's representative, to 31
observe the autopsy if the coroner considers the person has a sufficient 32
interest in the autopsy. 33
s 22 23 s 22
Coroners Bill 2002
(2) Before making the order, the coroner-- 1
(a) must, whenever practicable, consult with and consider the views 2
of-- 3
(i) a family member of the deceased person; and 4
(ii) the doctor who is to conduct the autopsy; and 5
(b) may consult with, and consider the views of, anyone else the 6
coroner considers appropriate. 7
(3) The coroner must give prior notice of the time and place of the 8
autopsy to a person whom the coroner allows to observe the autopsy. 9
(4) The coroner, or a police officer who is investigating the death under 10
this or another Act, is entitled to observe and participate in the autopsy. 11
(5) A person who is required to observe or participate in an autopsy for 12
his or her vocational training may observe and participate in an autopsy 13
with the consent of the doctor who is conducting the autopsy. 14
15
Examples for subsection (5)--
16
Medical students, mortuary staff, nurses and police officers.
22 Extra medical evidence for autopsy 17
(1) If the coroner considers it necessary for the investigation of a death, 18
the coroner may, by written notice, require-- 19
(a) an attending doctor-- 20
(i) to be present at the autopsy; or 21
(ii) to give the coroner a written report to help the doctor who is 22
to conduct the autopsy; or 23
(b) a person who has any medical records of the deceased person, or 24
tissue samples from the deceased person, to give them to the 25
doctor who is to conduct the autopsy. 26
27
Example--
28
The coroner may require the person in charge of the nursing home in which the
29
deceased person died to release the deceased person's medical records.
(2) The coroner may send the notice to a person by fax or another 30
electronic means. 31
(3) The person may send a written report or medical records to the 32
doctor by fax or other electronic means. 33
s 23 24 s 24
Coroners Bill 2002
(4) The person to whom the notice is directed must comply with the 1
notice, unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 2
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 3
4
Example--
5
An attending doctor may refuse to give the coroner a written report if the information in
6
the report would tend to incriminate the attending doctor.
(5) The doctor who conducts the autopsy must return the medical 7
records or tissue samples as soon as reasonably practicable after the 8
autopsy, unless the coroner orders otherwise. 9
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 10
23 Autopsy testing 11
(1) A coroner may order that the doctor who has been ordered to conduct 12
an autopsy also conduct a particular test. 13
(2) Also, the doctor may conduct any test that is consistent with the type 14
of autopsy ordered by the coroner if the doctor considers it necessary to 15
investigate the death. 16
(3) For a test, the doctor may remove tissue from the deceased person's 17
body. 18
(4) Regardless of the type of autopsy ordered, the doctor may take blood 19
samples for testing. 20
(5) In this section-- 21
"conduct" a test includes arrange for a test to be conducted. 22
"coroner" means the coroner who ordered the doctor to conduct an 23
autopsy or another coroner. 24
24 Removing tissue for autopsy testing 25
(1) This section applies if during an autopsy of a body, the doctor 26
conducting the autopsy removes tissue from the body for testing. 27
(2) If the tissue removed is a whole organ or foetus, the doctor must 28
inform the coroner before the coroner orders the body's release. 29
(3) The coroner, knowing that the tissue has been removed, may 30
nevertheless order the release of the body. 31
s 24 25 s 24
Coroners Bill 2002
(4) However, if a whole organ or foetus has been removed, the coroner 1
must not order the release of the body unless satisfied that-- 2
(a) if practicable, a family member of the deceased person has been 3
informed of the removal of the organ or foetus; and 4
(b) the retention of the organ or foetus is necessary for the 5
investigation of the death, despite any concerns raised with the 6
coroner about the retention of the organ or foetus. 7
(5) If tissue kept for testing is an organ or foetus, the coroner must, at not 8
more than 6 monthly intervals after the date of the order for the autopsy, 9
decide whether the tissue-- 10
(a) still needs to be kept for-- 11
(i) the investigation of the death; or 12
(ii) proceedings for an offence relating to the death; or 13
(b) may be disposed of. 14
(6) Specimen tissue as defined under the Transplantation and Anatomy 15
Act 1979 must be kept indefinitely by the entity that turned the tissue into 16
specimen tissue. 17
(7) A person must not dispose of any other tissue kept for testing, except 18
under the order of a coroner. 19
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 20
(8) If a coroner orders the disposal of the tissue, the entity that has the 21
tissue must-- 22
(a) if a family member of the deceased person has told the coroner 23
that he or she wishes to bury the tissue--release the tissue to the 24
family member, or the family member's representative, for 25
burial; or 26
(b) otherwise--arrange for the tissue to be buried. 27
(9) Subject to any relevant local laws, a statement by the entity, in the 28
approved form, to the effect that the coroner has ordered the disposal of the 29
tissue is sufficient authority for the burial of the tissue. 30
(10) In this section-- 31
"coroner" means-- 32
(a) the coroner who ordered the autopsy; or 33
(b) if that coroner is not available, another coroner. 34
s 25 26 s 25
Coroners Bill 2002
25 Autopsy reports 1
(1) As soon as practicable after completing an autopsy, the doctor who 2
conducted the autopsy must-- 3
(a) prepare an autopsy report; and 4
(b) give-- 5
(i) the report to the coroner; and 6
(ii) a copy of the report to an investigating police officer who 7
asks for a copy of the report. 8
(2) However, if the doctor is unable to do something required by 9
subsection (1), the doctor may arrange for another appropriately qualified 10
doctor to do the thing. 11
(3) If the chief executive or health chief executive asks for a copy of an 12
autopsy report, or a copy of a test report, the doctor who conducted the 13
autopsy or the person who did the test, must give a copy of the report to-- 14
(a) a public service employee nominated by the chief executive; or 15
(b) a public service employee, or health service employee, 16
nominated by the health chief executive. 17
(4) The chief executive or health chief executive may ask a doctor who 18
conducts autopsies for-- 19
(a) a copy of the autopsy report prepared by the doctor for a 20
particular deceased person; or 21
(b) all autopsy reports prepared by the doctor for deceased persons 22
who-- 23
(i) died in similar circumstances; or 24
(ii) had similar characteristics; or 25
(iii) may be grouped by other criteria; or 26
27
Example--
28
The health chief executive could ask a doctor to give the health chief
29
executive copies of all autopsy reports the doctor makes at any time
30
relating to deaths of children under the age of 1.
(c) copies of all autopsy reports prepared by the doctor. 31
(5) In this section-- 32
s 26 27 s 26
Coroners Bill 2002
"health service employee" means a health service employee under the 1
Health Services Act 1991. 2
"investigating police officer" means a police officer who is investigating 3
the death under this or another Act. 4
"test report" means a document containing the results of a test performed 5
for an autopsy. 6
26 Control of body 7
(1) The coroner starts having control of a deceased person's body when 8
the coroner starts investigating the deceased person's death. 9
(2) The coroner stops having control of the body when the coroner-- 10
(a) if the coroner stops investigating the death under 11
section 12(2)(a)14--orders the release of the body to the Minister 12
responsible for administering the Cultural Record (Landscapes 13
Queensland and Queensland Estate) Act 1987; or 14
(b) if the coroner stops investigating the death under 15
section 12(2)(b)--authorises a doctor to issue a cause of death 16
certificate for the deceased person; or 17
(c) if the coroner stops investigating the death under section 12(2)(c) 18
or (d)--orders the release of the body for burial; or 19
(d) if the coroner stops investigating the death under 20
section 12(2)(e)--orders the release of the body to the other 21
jurisdiction; or 22
(e) transfers control of the body to another coroner; or 23
(f) decides that it is not necessary for the coroner's investigation to 24
keep the body after an autopsy and orders the release of the body 25
for burial. 26
(3) For subsection (2)(f), the coroner must order the release of the body 27
for burial as soon as reasonably practicable after the autopsy. 28
(4) However, the coroner must not order the release of a body for burial 29
if it is not known whose body it is, unless the coroner believes it is 30
necessary to bury the body in the particular circumstances. 31
(5) A doctor must not issue a cause of death certificate for a person if-- 32
14 See section 12 (Deaths not to be investigated or further investigated)
s 27 28 s 28
Coroners Bill 2002
(a) the death appears to the doctor to be a reportable death, unless a 1
coroner advises the doctor that the death is not a reportable 2
death; or 3
(b) a coroner is investigating the death, unless the coroner authorises 4
the issue of the certificate. 5
Maximum penalty for subsection (5)--100 penalty units. 6
Division 3--Inquests 7
27 When inquest must be held 8
(1) The coroner investigating a death must hold an inquest if-- 9
(a) the coroner considers the death is-- 10
(i) a death in custody; or 11
(ii) a death in care, in circumstances that raise issues about the 12
deceased person's care; or 13
(b) the Attorney-General directs the State Coroner to arrange for an 14
inquest to be held into the death; or 15
(c) the State Coroner, on the State Coroner's own initiative or on an 16
application under section 30,15 orders an inquest be held into the 17
death; or 18
(d) the District Court, on an application under section 30, orders an 19
inquest be held into the death. 20
(2) Subsection (1)(b) to (d) applies despite any decision of the coroner 21
investigating the death not to hold an inquest. 22
28 When inquest may be held 23
(1) An inquest may be held into a reportable death if the coroner 24
investigating the death considers it desirable to hold an inquest. 25
(2) In deciding whether it is desirable to hold an inquest, the coroner 26
may consider-- 27
15 Section 30 (Applying for inquest to be held)
s 29 29 s 30
Coroners Bill 2002
(a) the wish of any family member of the deceased person, 1
communicated to the coroner, that an inquest be held; and 2
(b) the extent to which drawing attention to the circumstances of the 3
death may prevent deaths in similar circumstances happening in 4
the future; and 5
(c) any guidelines issued by the State Coroner about the issues that 6
may be relevant for deciding whether to hold an inquest for 7
particular types of deaths. 8
29 When inquest must not be held or continued 9
(1) This section applies if a coroner who is investigating a death is 10
informed that someone has been charged with an offence in which the 11
question of whether the accused caused the death may be in issue. 12
(2) If the coroner is informed before an inquest is started, the coroner 13
must not start an inquest until after the end of the proceedings for the 14
offence, including any appeal started within the time allowed for an appeal. 15
(3) If the coroner is informed after the start of an inquest, the coroner-- 16
(a) must adjourn the inquest; and 17
(b) may resume or close the inquest after the end of the proceedings 18
for the offence, including any appeal started within the time 19
allowed for an appeal. 20
30 Applying for inquest to be held 21
(1) A person may apply to the coroner investigating a person's death, in 22
the approved form, to hold an inquest into the death. 23
(2) The coroner must, within 6 months after receiving the application, 24
decide the application and give written reasons for the decision to-- 25
(a) the applicant; and 26
(b) if the coroner is not the State Coroner--the State Coroner. 27
(3) If the coroner decides not to hold an inquest, the person may apply 28
for an order that an inquest be held to-- 29
(a) if the coroner is not the State Coroner--the State Coroner; or 30
(b) if the coroner is the State Coroner--the District Court. 31
s 31 30 s 33
Coroners Bill 2002
(4) The application must be made within 14 days after the person 1
receives the written reasons for the coroner's decision. 2
(5) If the State Coroner refuses an application, the person may apply to 3
the District Court. 4
(6) The application must be made within 14 days after the person 5
receives the written reasons for the State Coroner's decision. 6
(7) The State Coroner or District Court may order that an inquest be held 7
if satisfied it is in the public interest to hold the inquest. 8
31 Inquests to be held by the Coroners Court 9
(1) An inquest must be held by the Coroners Court in open court, except 10
when the coroner orders the court be closed while particular evidence is 11
given. 12
(2) An inquest may be held on any day of the week. 13
32 Notice of inquest 14
(1) The Coroners Court must publish, in a daily newspaper circulating 15
generally in the State, a notice of-- 16
(a) the matter to be investigated at the inquest; and 17
(b) the date, time and place of the inquest set by the coroner. 18
(2) The notice must be published at least 14 days before the inquest is to 19
be held. 20
(3) This section does not apply-- 21
(a) to an adjourned inquest; or 22
(b) if the State Coroner directs that a notice not be published. 23
33 Inquest into multiple deaths 24
The State Coroner may investigate, or direct a coroner to investigate, at 25
an inquest-- 26
(a) a number of deaths that happened at different times and places, 27
but which appear to have happened in similar circumstances; or 28
(b) a number of deaths that happened at the same time and place. 29
s 34 31 s 35
Coroners Bill 2002
1
Example of paragraph (a)--
2
The State Coroner may direct a coroner to investigate several deaths that
3
are suspected of being caused by an overdose of methadone.
34 Pre-inquest conferences 4
(1) The Coroners Court investigating a death may hold a conference 5
before holding an inquest-- 6
(a) to decide-- 7
(i) what issues are to be investigated at the inquest; or 8
(ii) who may appear at the inquest; or 9
(iii) which witnesses will be required at the inquest; or 10
(iv) what evidence will be required at the inquest; or 11
(b) to work out how long the inquest will take; or 12
(c) to hear any application under section 17;16 or 13
(d) to otherwise ensure the orderly conduct of the inquest. 14
(2) The Coroners Court may order a person concerned with the 15
investigation to attend the conference. 16
35 Directions or orders about inquests 17
(1) To the extent that the conduct of an inquest is not provided for by 18
rules or practice directions, the Coroners Court may give the directions and 19
make the orders the court considers appropriate for the conduct of the 20
inquest. 21
22
Example--
23
The Coroners Court may make an order to close the court while a witness is giving
24
evidence that the witness claims would tend to incriminate the witness.
(2) Subsection (1) does not limit the power of the Coroners Court to 25
control an inquest. 26
16 Section 17 (Disclosure of confidential information to Coroners Court)
s 36 32 s 37
Coroners Bill 2002
36 Right to appear etc. 1
(1) The following persons may appear, examine witnesses, and make 2
submissions, at an inquest-- 3
(a) a police officer, lawyer or other person assisting the Coroners 4
Court; 5
(b) the Attorney-General; 6
(c) a person who the Coroners Court considers has a sufficient 7
interest in the inquest. 8
9
Examples for paragraph (c)--
10
1. A family member.
11
2. The representative of a department.
12
3. The representative of a company that manufactured a product that is believed to have
13
killed the deceased person.
(2) The Attorney-General or a person who the Coroners Court considers 14
has a sufficient interest may be represented by a lawyer. 15
(3) In this section-- 16
"examine" includes cross-examine. 17
37 Evidence 18
(1) The Coroners Court is not bound by the rules of evidence, but may 19
inform itself in any way it considers appropriate. 20
(2) The Coroners Court may require a person to produce a document to 21
the court before the start of an inquest. 22
(3) The Coroners Court may inspect anything produced at an inquest, 23
copy it, or keep it for a reasonable period. 24
(4) The Coroners Court may do any of the following-- 25
(a) order a person to attend an inquest, until excused by the court-- 26
(i) to give evidence as a witness; or 27
(ii) to produce something; 28
(b) order a person called as a witness at an inquest-- 29
(i) to take an oath; or 30
(ii) to answer a question. 31
s 38 33 s 38
Coroners Bill 2002
(5) In addition to the ways in which something may be served under the 1
Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 39,17 the Coroners Court may 2
authorise service of an order in another way. 3
(6) A person must comply with an order of the Coroners Court, unless 4
the person has a reasonable excuse. 5
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 6
(7) If a person fails to attend an inquest as ordered, the court may issue a 7
warrant for the person's arrest.18 8
(8) However, the court may issue the warrant only if satisfied the person 9
was served in time for it to be practical, in normal circumstances, for the 10
person to appear before the court. 11
(9) The police officer must, as soon as practicable after the arrest, cause 12
the person to be brought before the Coroners Court. 13
(10) Once arrested, the person may be detained in custody until the 14
Coroners Court excuses the person from attending the inquest. 15
(11) The issue of a warrant, or the arrest of the person, does not relieve 16
the person from liability incurred by the person for not complying with the 17
order to attend. 18
38 Incriminating evidence 19
(1) This section applies if a witness refuses to give oral evidence at an 20
inquest because the evidence would tend to incriminate the person. 21
(2) The coroner may require the witness to give evidence that would 22
tend to incriminate the witness if the coroner is satisfied that it is in the 23
public interest for the witness to do so. 24
(3) The evidence is not admissible against the witness in any other 25
proceeding, other than a proceeding for perjury. 26
17 Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 39 (Service of documents)
18 For particular police powers relating to the arrest of a person, see the Police Powers
and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 19 (General power to enter to arrest or detain
someone or enforce warrant), section 376 (Power to use force against individuals)
and, for what happens if the person can not be taken before the coroner on the day of
the arrest, section 226 (Duty of officer receiving custody of person arrested under
warrant other than for offence).
s 39 34 s 40
Coroners Bill 2002
(4) Derivative evidence is not admissible against the witness in a 1
criminal proceeding. 2
(5) In this section-- 3
"derivative evidence" means any information, document or other evidence 4
obtained as a direct or indirect result of the evidence given by the 5
witness. 6
"proceeding for perjury" means a criminal proceeding in which the false 7
or misleading nature of the evidence is in question. 8
39 Exhibits 9
(1) This section applies to exhibits at inquests. 10
(2) The registrar or deputy registrar must hold exhibits in safe custody. 11
(3) A coroner may make an order about the custody of an exhibit. 12
40 Prohibited publications relating to inquests 13
(1) A coroner, either before, during or immediately after the holding of 14
an inquest, may make an order prohibiting the publication of information 15
relating to, or arising at, an inquest. 16
17
Examples--
18
A coroner may prohibit the publication of information that--
19
(a) indicates a deceased person's death was, or may possibly have been,
20
self-inflicted; or
21
(b) would tend to incriminate a witness.
(2) A person must not contravene an order under subsection (1). 22
Maximum penalty--150 penalty units. 23
(3) A person must not publish, or allow someone else to publish-- 24
(a) a question disallowed by the Coroners Court at an inquest; or 25
(b) an answer given to a question disallowed by the Coroners Court 26
at an inquest. 27
Maximum penalty--150 penalty units. 28
(4) The coroner, by order, may prohibit a person-- 29
s 41 35 s 42
Coroners Bill 2002
(a) immediately before, during or immediately after the holding of 1
an inquest, from filming, photographing, sketching or recording 2
anything-- 3
(i) in the room or other place in which the inquest is about to 4
be, is being or has been held; or 5
(ii) in a room or other place set aside by a coroner for a purpose 6
connected with the holding of the inquest; or 7
(iii) in an entrance or passageway leading to or from a room or 8
place mentioned in subparagraph (i) or (ii); or 9
(b) publishing a film, photograph, sketch or record taken contrary to 10
an order made under paragraph (a). 11
(5) A person must comply with the order, unless the person has a 12
reasonable excuse. 13
Maximum penalty--150 penalty units. 14
(6) In this section-- 15
"publish" includes publish on radio, television or the internet. 16
"record" includes make an audio recording, but does not include a 17
recording made under a direction given under the Recording of 18
Evidence Act 1962. 19
41 Contempt 20
The Magistrates Courts Act 1921, section 5019 applies to the Coroners 21
Court in the same way that it applies to a Magistrates Court, with all 22
necessary changes. 23
42 Excluding persons from inquest 24
(1) The Coroners Court may order that a person be excluded from an 25
inquest if the court considers it is in the interests of justice, the public or a 26
particular person to do so. 27
28
Examples--
19 Magistrates Courts Act 1921, section 50 (Contempt)
s 43 36 s 44
Coroners Bill 2002
1
1. A person who commits an offence against section 4020 may be excluded from an
2
inquest.
3
2. A person may be excluded from an inquest until the person or someone else has
4
given evidence at the inquest.
(2) If the person disobeys the order, the court may order the person be 5
removed from the inquest. 6
43 Adjourning inquest 7
The Coroners Court may adjourn an inquest to any time and place. 8
44 Coroner's findings 9
(1) A coroner who is investigating a suspected death must, if possible, 10
find whether or not a death in fact happened. 11
(2) A coroner who is investigating a death or suspected death must, if 12
possible, find-- 13
(a) who the deceased person is; and 14
(b) how the person died; and 15
(c) when the person died; and 16
(d) where the person died; and 17
(e) what caused the person to die. 18
(3) However, the coroner need not make the findings listed in 19
subsection (2) if-- 20
(a) the coroner is unable to find that a suspected death in fact 21
happened; or 22
(b) the coroner stops investigating the death under section 12(1).21 23
(4) The coroner must give a written copy of the findings to-- 24
(a) a family member of the deceased person who has indicated that 25
he or she will accept the document for the deceased person's 26
family; and 27
20 Section 40 (Prohibited publications relating to inquests)
21 Section 12 (Deaths not to be investigated or further investigated)
s 45 37 s 45
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) if an inquest was held--any person who, as a person with a 1
sufficient interest in the inquest, appeared at the inquest; and 2
(c) if the coroner is not the State Coroner--the State Coroner. 3
(5) The coroner must not include in the findings any statement that a 4
person is, or may be-- 5
(a) guilty of an offence; or 6
(b) civilly liable for something. 7
(6) This section applies whether or not an inquest is held. 8
45 Coroner's comments 9
(1) A coroner may, whenever appropriate, comment on anything 10
connected with a death investigated at an inquest that relates to-- 11
(a) public health or safety; or 12
(b) the administration of justice; or 13
(c) ways to prevent deaths from happening in similar circumstances 14
in the future. 15
(2) The coroner must give a written copy of the comments to-- 16
(a) a family member of the deceased person who has indicated that 17
he or she will accept the document for the deceased person's 18
family; and 19
(b) any person who, as a person with a sufficient interest in the 20
inquest, appeared at the inquest; and 21
(c) if the coroner is not the State Coroner--the State Coroner; and 22
(d) if a government entity deals with the matters to which the 23
comment relates-- 24
(i) the Minister administering the entity; and 25
(ii) the chief executive officer of the entity. 26
(3) The coroner must not include in the comments any statement that a 27
person is, or may be-- 28
(a) guilty of an offence; or 29
(b) civilly liable for something. 30
s 46 38 s 46
Coroners Bill 2002
46 Coroner's comments and findings for deaths in care or custody 1
(1) This section applies to the findings, and any comments, of a coroner 2
made in relation to the investigation of a death in care or death in custody. 3
(2) The coroner must give a written copy of the findings and comments 4
to-- 5
(a) the Attorney-General; and 6
(b) the appropriate chief executive; and 7
(c) the appropriate Minister. 8
(3) In this section-- 9
"appropriate chief executive" means the chief executive of the 10
department in which the relevant Act is administered. 11
"appropriate Minister" means the Minister administering the relevant 12
Act. 13
"relevant Act" means-- 14
(a) for a death in care-- 15
(i) for the death of a person mentioned in 16
section 9(1)(a)(i)--the Residential Services (Accreditation) 17
Act 2002; or 18
(ii) for the death of a person mentioned in 19
section 9(1)(a)(ii)--the Disability Services Act 1992; or 20
(iii) for the death of a person mentioned in 21
section 9(1)(a)(iii)--the Health Services Act 1991; or 22
(iv) for the death of a person mentioned in section 9(1)(b)--the 23
Mental Health Act 2000; or 24
(v) for the death of a person mentioned in section 9(1)(c)--the 25
Adoption of Children Act 1964; or 26
(vi) for the death of a person mentioned in section 9(1)(d)--the 27
Child Protection Act 1999; or 28
(b) for a death in custody-- 29
(i) for the death of a person in the custody of a police officer or 30
in a watch-house--the Police Powers and Responsibilities 31
Act 2000; or 32
s 47 39 s 47
Coroners Bill 2002
(ii) for the death of a person detained under the Corrective 1
Services Act 2000--that Act; or 2
(iii) for the death of a person in the custody of the Crime and 3
Misconduct Commission--the Crime and Misconduct Act 4
2001; or 5
(iv) for the death of a person in the custody of any other law 6
enforcement agency--the Police Powers and 7
Responsibilities Act 2000; or 8
(v) for the death of a person in the custody of the proper officer 9
of a court--the Justices Act 1886; or 10
(vi) for the death of a person in custody under the Juvenile 11
Justice Act 1992, section 41, 43, 120 or 121--the Juvenile 12
Justice Act 1992. 13
47 Reporting offences or misconduct 14
(1) A reference in this section to information does not include 15
information obtained under section 38(2).22 16
(2) If, from information obtained while investigating a death, a coroner 17
reasonably suspects a person has committed an offence, the coroner must 18
give the information to-- 19
(a) for an indictable offence--the director of public prosecutions; or 20
(b) for any other offence--the chief executive of the department in 21
which the legislation creating the offence is administered. 22
(3) A coroner may give information about official misconduct or police 23
misconduct under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 to the Crime and 24
Misconduct Commission. 25
(4) A coroner may give information about a person's conduct in a 26
profession or trade, obtained while investigating a death, to a disciplinary 27
body for the person's profession or trade if the coroner reasonably believes 28
the information might cause the body to inquire into, or take steps in 29
relation to, the conduct. 30
(5) In this section-- 31
22 Section 38 (Incriminating evidence)
s 48 40 s 49
Coroners Bill 2002
"disciplinary body" for a person's profession or trade means a body 1
that-- 2
(a) licenses, registers or otherwise approves the carrying on of the 3
profession or trade; or 4
(b) can sanction, or recommend sanctions for, the person's conduct 5
in the profession or trade. 6
48 Reporting to State Coroner 7
At the request of the State Coroner, a coroner must give the State 8
Coroner information about an investigation into a death that the coroner 9
conducted or is conducting. 10
49 Reopening inquests etc. 11
(1) A person dissatisfied with a finding at an inquest may apply to the 12
State Coroner or District Court to set aside the finding. 13
(2) The person may apply to the District Court even if, on an application 14
based on the same or substantially the same grounds or evidence, the State 15
Coroner has refused to set aside the finding. 16
(3) However, the person may not apply to the State Coroner if, on an 17
application based on the same or substantially the same grounds or 18
evidence, the District Court has refused to set aside the finding. 19
(4) The State Coroner may set aside a finding if satisfied-- 20
(a) new evidence casts doubt on the finding; or 21
(b) the finding was not correctly recorded. 22
(5) The District Court may set aside a finding if satisfied-- 23
(a) new evidence casts doubt on the finding; or 24
(b) the finding was not correctly recorded; or 25
(c) there was no evidence to support the finding; or 26
(d) the finding could not be reasonably supported by the evidence. 27
(6) If the State Coroner sets aside a finding-- 28
(a) the State Coroner may-- 29
(i) reopen the inquest to re-examine the finding; or 30
s 50 41 s 51
Coroners Bill 2002
(ii) hold a new inquest; or 1
(b) the State Coroner may direct another coroner to-- 2
(i) reopen the inquest to re-examine the finding; or 3
(ii) hold a new inquest. 4
(7) If the District Court sets aside a finding, the District Court may 5
order-- 6
(a) the State Coroner to-- 7
(i) reopen the inquest to re-examine the finding; or 8
(ii) hold a new inquest; or 9
(b) the State Coroner to direct another coroner to-- 10
(i) reopen the inquest to re-examine the finding; or 11
(ii) hold a new inquest. 12
(8) A coroner who has reopened an inquest, or is holding a new inquest, 13
under this section may accept any of the evidence given, or findings made, 14
at the earlier inquest as being correct. 15
50 Record of coroner's findings and comments 16
(1) A coroner must keep a record of the coroner's findings and 17
comments. 18
(2) The record can not be used as evidence in any court or tribunal. 19
(3) If a coroner becomes aware of a clerical mistake or omission in the 20
record, the coroner must correct it. 21
Division 4--Accessing investigation documents 22
51 Documents that can not be accessed 23
(1) A coroner must not give a person access to an investigation document 24
to the extent that the document-- 25
(a) is subject to legal professional privilege; or 26
(b) contains information that is likely to-- 27
(i) prevent a person from receiving a fair trial; or 28
s 52 42 s 52
Coroners Bill 2002
(ii) prejudice the investigation of a contravention or possible 1
contravention of the law; or 2
(iii) enable the existence or identity of a confidential source of 3
information, in relation to the enforcement or administration 4
of the law, to be ascertained; or 5
(iv) endanger a person's life or physical safety; or 6
(v) prejudice the effectiveness of a lawful method or procedure 7
for preventing, detecting, investigating or dealing with a 8
contravention or possible contravention of the law; or 9
(vi) prejudice the maintenance or enforcement of a lawful 10
method or procedure for protecting public safety; or 11
(vii) facilitate a person's escape from lawful custody; or 12
(c) contains information about a living or dead person's personal 13
affairs, including, for example, information about the person's 14
health, unless the information is relevant to a matter mentioned in 15
section 44(2);23 or 16
(d) contains information that was obtained from a person under a 17
requirement in another Act that compelled the person to give the 18
information. 19
(2) Sections 52 and 5324 are subject to this section. 20
52 Access to investigation documents for research purposes 21
(1) This section applies if a person wants access to an investigation 22
document, that is in the possession of a coroner, for research purposes. 23
(2) The State Coroner must not give the person access to-- 24
(a) an investigation document, while a coroner is investigating the 25
death to which the document relates; or 26
(b) a document to the extent that it contains information obtained 27
under section 17.25 28
23 Section 44 (Coroner's findings)
24 Sections 52 (Access to investigation documents for research purposes) and 53
(Access to investigation documents for other purposes)
25 Section 17 (Disclosure of confidential information to Coroners Court)
s 52 43 s 52
Coroners Bill 2002
(3) The person may access another investigation document only with the 1
consent of the State Coroner. 2
(4) The State Coroner may consent only if-- 3
(a) the State Coroner is satisfied that the person is a genuine 4
researcher; and 5
(b) the State Coroner is satisfied that the document is reasonably 6
necessary for the research; and 7
(c) for a police document in relation to which the State Coroner 8
decides not to obliterate information that identifies 9
someone--the commissioner of the police service agrees to the 10
person having access to the document; and 11
(d) for an investigation document that is not a coronial document or 12
police document--the chief executive officer of the entity that 13
prepared the document agrees to the person having access to the 14
document. 15
(5) Before giving someone access to an investigation document for 16
research purposes, the State Coroner must ensure that any information in 17
the document that identifies anyone is obliterated. 18
(6) However, the State Coroner need not obliterate the information if the 19
State Coroner reasonably believes-- 20
(a) the person's identity is necessary for the research to be effective; 21
and 22
(b) the opportunity for increased knowledge that may result from the 23
research outweighs the need to protect the privacy of any living 24
or dead person. 25
(7) In this section-- 26
"genuine researcher" means-- 27
(a) a person who is approved under the Health Act 1937, 28
section 154M26 to conduct scientific research and studies for the 29
purpose of reducing morbidity or mortality in Queensland; or 30
26 Health Act 1937, section 154M (Authority to conduct scientific research and
studies)
s 53 44 s 53
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) a person who is a member of an approved quality assurance 1
committee under the Health Services Act 1991, part 4, 2
division 2;27 or 3
(c) another person who the chief executive considers to be a person 4
conducting genuine research. 5
(8) This section is subject to section 55.28 6
53 Access to investigation documents for other purposes 7
(1) This section applies if a person wants access to 1 of the following 8
documents, that is in the possession of a coroner, for purposes other than 9
research purposes-- 10
(a) a coronial document; 11
(b) another type of investigation document. 12
(2) The person may access the document with the consent of-- 13
(a) the coroner who is conducting, or had conducted, the 14
investigation to which the document relates; or 15
(b) if that coroner is not available--another coroner nominated by 16
the State Coroner. 17
(3) The coroner may consent only if the coroner is satisfied that the 18
person has a sufficient interest in the document. 19
20
Example--
21
A person with a sufficient interest in an investigation document might include--
22
(a) an immediate member of the deceased person's family; or
23
(b) a person authorised by the owner of a tissue bank under the Transplantation
24
and Anatomy Act 1979; or
25
(c) for a document that is relevant to assessing a potential threat to public
26
health--the health chief executive.
(4) While a coroner is investigating a death to which a coronial 27
document relates, a person may access the document only under this 28
section. 29
27 Health Services Act 1991, part 4 (Teaching hospitals and quality assurance),
division 2 (Quality assurance)
28 Section 55 (Refusing access in the public interest)
s 54 45 s 55
Coroners Bill 2002
(5) Despite subsection (2), if access to a coronial document is necessary 1
for the investigation or prosecution of an offence relating to a death-- 2
(a) a police officer may access the document without a coroner's 3
consent; and 4
(b) the police officer may give someone else access to the document 5
for the investigation or prosecution, without a coroner's consent. 6
(6) However, subsection (5) does not apply to a document to the extent 7
that the document contains information that was obtained from a person 8
under a provision of another Act that compelled the person to give the 9
information. 10
11
Example of a provision of another Act in subsection (6)--
12
The Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999, section 159 (Person must answer
13
question about serious accident or high potential incident)
(7) Despite anything in this section, a document to the extent that it 14
contains confidential information obtained under section 17,29 may only be 15
accessed under section 17(4). 16
54 Conditions imposed on access 17
(1) When consenting to give a person access to an investigation 18
document, a coroner may impose conditions on the consent that the coroner 19
considers are necessary to protect the interests of justice, the public or a 20
particular person. 21
22
Example--
23
A coroner may give consent on the condition that the document not be used for any
24
purpose other than the inquest.
(2) A person given access to an investigation document subject to a 25
conditional consent must comply with the conditions, unless the person has 26
a reasonable excuse. 27
Maximum penalty for subsection (2)--100 penalty units or 2 years 28
imprisonment. 29
55 Refusing access in the public interest 30
(1) A coroner may refuse to allow a person access to an investigation 31
document if the coroner considers that disclosure of the information in the 32
29 Section 17 (Disclosure of confidential information to Coroners Court)
s 56 46 s 56
Coroners Bill 2002
document would not be in the public interest when weighed against all 1
relevant interests. 2
3
Example--
4
A coroner may refuse access to a document if the coroner considers the document
5
contains--
6
(a) defamatory information; or
7
(b) unsubstantiated allegations of criminal conduct; or
8
(c) information that may prejudice the coroner's investigation.
(2) Subsection (1) applies even if the person is otherwise eligible, under 9
this division, to be given access to the document. 10
(3) Also, a coroner may refuse to give access to a coronial document 11
until a stated time. 12
13
Example--
14
If a document contains information that is likely to prevent a person from receiving a
15
fair trial, a coroner may refuse to give access to the document until the trial is over.
(4) A person may apply to a coroner who refused access to an 16
investigation document under this section to amend or revoke the order 17
containing the refusal. 18
19
Example--
20
A person who wants to produce the document in evidence in another proceeding might
21
apply to the coroner to allow a copy of the document to be given to the judge in that
22
proceeding.
(5) In this section-- 23
"document" includes part of a document. 24
56 Coroner to pass on refused request for investigation document 25
(1) This section applies to an investigation document that is not a 26
coronial document. 27
(2) If a coroner is prevented, under section 51,30 from giving a person 28
access to the document, the coroner must-- 29
(a) advise the entity that prepared the document, in writing-- 30
(i) that the person has requested access to the document; and 31
30 Section 51 (Documents that can not be accessed)
s 57 47 s 58
Coroners Bill 2002
(ii) of any concerns that the coroner has about how the 1
coroner's investigation may be affected if the document 2
were released to the person; and 3
(b) advise the person, in writing, that the coroner has forwarded the 4
person's request to the entity. 5
57 Identifying coronial documents 6
(1) This section applies if an entity gives a coroner an investigation 7
document. 8
(2) The entity must inform the coroner whether or not the document was 9
specifically prepared in connection with the investigation. 10
Division 5--Physical evidence 11
58 What division applies to 12
(1) This division relates to physical evidence for a coroner's 13
investigation of a death. 14
(2) However, this division does not apply to an investigation document, 15
other than an investigation document that was seized by a police officer for 16
the investigation.31 17
(3) In this section-- 18
"physical evidence" for an investigation, means-- 19
(a) anything seized by a police officer for the investigation; or 20
(b) any exhibits that were tendered at an inquest held by the coroner; 21
or 22
(c) any other property that came into the possession of a coroner, 23
police officer, registrar or deputy registrar for the investigation. 24
31 Investigation documents are dealt with under division 4.
s 59 48 s 60
Coroners Bill 2002
59 Returning physical evidence 1
(1) The coroner must order the physical evidence be returned to its 2
owner as soon as the coroner decides that the evidence is no longer 3
required for-- 4
(a) the investigation; or 5
(b) the investigation of another death under this Act; or 6
(c) a proceeding for an offence relating to the death. 7
(2) However, the coroner must not order the return of physical evidence 8
to its owner if it is not lawful for the owner to possess the physical 9
evidence. 10
(3) In this section-- 11
"owner" means-- 12
(a) the person who appears to the coroner to be the lawful owner of 13
the physical evidence; or 14
(b) for something that was owned by a person who has died--the 15
deceased person's personal representative. 16
60 Forfeiting physical evidence to the State 17
(1) The physical evidence becomes State property if the coroner-- 18
(a) can not, after making reasonable efforts, return the physical 19
evidence to its owner; or 20
21
Example of paragraph (a)--
22
The coroner may not be able to return physical evidence to its owner
23
because the owner has moved overseas and, despite reasonable efforts, can
24
not be located by the coroner.
(b) does not order the return of physical evidence to its owner 25
because-- 26
(i) it is not lawful for the owner to possess the physical 27
evidence; or 28
(ii) given the nature, condition and value of the physical 29
evidence, it is not desirable that the physical evidence be 30
returned to its owner. 31
s 61 49 s 62
Coroners Bill 2002
1
Example of physical evidence mentioned in paragraph (b)(ii)--
2
A cracked safety helmet that a deceased person was wearing when
3
killed.
(2) In deciding what efforts are reasonable, the coroner must have regard 4
to the nature, condition and value of the physical evidence. 5
(3) Once the physical evidence becomes State property, the coroner may 6
arrange for the physical evidence to be dealt with in any way allowed under 7
the guidelines issued by the State Coroner. 8
9
Example--
10
The coroner may arrange for the physical evidence to be destroyed.
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to physical evidence that is in the 11
possession of the police service.32 12
61 Access to physical evidence 13
Until the physical evidence is returned or becomes State property, the 14
coroner must allow its owner to inspect it and, if it is a document, to copy 15
it, unless it is impracticable or would be unreasonable to allow the 16
inspection or copying. 17
Division 6--Transferring investigation to another coroner 18
62 Transferring investigation to another coroner 19
(1) This section is about the State Coroner reassigning the investigation 20
of a death from 1 coroner (the "original coroner") to the State Coroner or 21
another coroner (the "new coroner"). 22
(2) The State Coroner may reassign an investigation that has not gone to 23
an inquest if the State Coroner considers it necessary for the efficient 24
operation of the coronial system. 25
(3) Also, the State Coroner may reassign an investigation, whether or not 26
it has not gone to an inquest, if the original coroner-- 27
(a) stops being a coroner; or 28
32 For physical evidence that is in the possession of the police service, see the Police
Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 441.
s 63 50 s 65
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) is not available to finish the investigation, because of absence or 1
another reason. 2
(4) If the original coroner had started but not finished an inquest into the 3
death, the new coroner may-- 4
(a) continue the inquest; or 5
(b) rehear part of the evidence heard by the original coroner; or 6
(c) hold a new inquest. 7
(5) For the investigation, the new coroner may-- 8
(a) consider any evidence that was before the original coroner; and 9
(b) do anything the original coroner could do. 10
PART 4--ADMINISTRATION 11
Division 1--Coroners Court 12
63 The Coroners Court 13
(1) The Coroners Court is established as a court of record. 14
(2) The Coroners Court is constituted by a coroner. 15
64 Jurisdiction of the court is exclusive 16
Only the Coroners Court may hold an inquest. 17
65 Where the court may be held 18
(1) The Coroners Court-- 19
(a) may be held at any place; or 20
(b) may be held in more than 1 place at the same time. 21
(2) The Coroners Court held at a place may be referred to as the 22
Coroners Court at the place. 23
s 66 51 s 69
Coroners Bill 2002
1
Example--
2
The Coroners Court held at Toowoomba may be referred to as the Coroners Court at
3
Toowoomba.
66 Seals of the court 4
(1) The Coroners Court must have a seal for the court. 5
(2) The seal must be kept under the State Coroner's direction. 6
(3) The seal must be judicially noticed. 7
67 Rule-making power 8
The Governor in Council may make rules for the practice and procedures 9
of the Coroners Court, including, for example, the practice and procedures 10
at conferences held under section 34.33 11
68 Practice directions 12
(1) To the extent that a matter about the procedures of the Coroners 13
Court is not provided for by this Act or the rules, the State Coroner may 14
issue practice directions for the court about the court's general procedures. 15
16
Example--
17
The State Coroner may issue a practice direction about the procedures at conferences
18
held under section 34.
(2) Subsection (1) does not limit any inherent or other power of a 19
coroner to make practice directions for a particular inquest. 20
Division 2--State Coroner 21
69 Appointment of State Coroner 22
(1) The Governor in Council may appoint a magistrate, other than an 23
acting magistrate, as the State Coroner. 24
(2) The appointment as the State Coroner-- 25
(a) is for an initial term of not more than 5 years; and 26
33 Section 34 (Pre-inquest conferences)
s 70 52 s 70
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) may be renewed once for a term of not more than 5 years. 1
(3) The State Coroner is entitled to the same salary, allowances and 2
employment conditions as the Deputy Chief Magistrate. 3
70 Functions and powers of State Coroner 4
(1) The State Coroner's functions are-- 5
(a) to oversee and coordinate the coronial system; and 6
(b) to ensure the coronial system is administered and operated 7
efficiently; and 8
(c) to ensure deaths reported to coroners that are reportable deaths 9
are investigated to an appropriate extent; and 10
(d) to ensure an inquest is held if-- 11
(i) the inquest is required to be held under this Act; or 12
(ii) it is desirable for the inquest to be held; and 13
(e) to be responsible, together with the Deputy State Coroner, for all 14
investigations into deaths in custody; and 15
(f) to issue directions and guidelines about the investigation of 16
deaths under this Act; and 17
(g) any other function given to the State Coroner or a coroner under 18
this or another Act. 19
(2) The State Coroner has power to do all things necessary or convenient 20
to be done for, or in connection with, the performance of the State 21
Coroner's functions. 22
(3) While a magistrate holds appointment as the State Coroner, the only 23
functions and powers that the magistrate has are the functions and powers 24
of the State Coroner. 25
(4) The State Coroner must devote the whole of his or her time to the 26
duties of the State Coroner. 27
(5) Without limiting subsection (4), the State Coroner must not practise 28
as a barrister or solicitor for fee or reward. 29
s 71 53 s 73
Coroners Bill 2002
(6) The Magistrates Act 1991, sections 10(8) and 13 do not apply in 1
relation to the State Coroner.34 2
71 Resignation of State Coroner 3
(1) The person appointed as State Coroner may, by written notice to the 4
Minister, resign as State Coroner. 5
(2) However, on resigning as State Coroner, the person does not stop 6
being a magistrate. 7
72 When person stops being the State Coroner 8
(1) A person stops being the State Coroner-- 9
(a) while the person is suspended as a magistrate; or 10
(b) if the person stops being a magistrate. 11
(2) For a magistrate who is the State Coroner, the duties mentioned in 12
the Magistrates Act 1991, section 15(4)35 include the duties of the State 13
Coroner. 14
73 Acting as State Coroner 15
(1) This section applies if-- 16
(a) the State Coroner's position is vacant; or 17
(b) the State Coroner is not available to perform the State Coroner's 18
functions because of absence or another reason. 19
(2) The Governor in Council may appoint a magistrate to act as the State 20
Coroner. 21
(3) The instrument of appointment must state the period of the 22
appointment. 23
(4) The period of the appointment must not be longer than 6 months. 24
(5) However, the appointment may be renewed at any time. 25
34 Magistrates Act 1991, sections 10 (Functions of Chief Magistrate) and 13
(Functions of Magistrates generally)
35 Magistrates Act 1991, section 15 (Suspension of Magistrate)
s 74 54 s 76
Coroners Bill 2002
(6) Despite subsection (2), the Deputy State Coroner may act as the State 1
Coroner whenever-- 2
(a) no-one holds a current appointment from the Governor in 3
Council to act as the State Coroner; or 4
(b) someone holds a current appointment from the Governor in 5
Council to act as the State Coroner, but is not immediately 6
available to act under the appointment. 7
(7) In this section-- 8
"Deputy State Coroner" does not include a person who is acting as the 9
Deputy State Coroner. 10
"magistrate" does not include a person who is acting as a magistrate. 11
74 Staff of the State Coroner 12
The staff who are necessary to enable the State Coroner to perform his or 13
her functions are to be appointed under the Public Service Act 1996. 14
75 Consulting with Chief Magistrate 15
The State Coroner must consult with the Chief Magistrate about-- 16
(a) the resources necessary to ensure the efficient administration of 17
the coronial system; and 18
(b) the amount of work conducted by magistrates as coroners; and 19
(c) any guidelines or practice directions the State Coroner wishes to 20
issue. 21
76 Annual report 22
(1) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, the State 23
Coroner must give the Attorney-General a report for the year on the 24
operation of this Act. 25
(2) The report must also contain-- 26
(a) the State Coroner's guidelines that were operative in the year; 27
and 28
(b) a summary of the investigation, including the inquest, into each 29
death in custody. 30
s 77 55 s 80
Coroners Bill 2002
(3) The report may also contain a summary of any other investigation 1
that the State Coroner considers should be brought to the Minister's 2
attention. 3
Division 3--Deputy State Coroner 4
77 Appointment of Deputy State Coroner 5
(1) The Governor in Council may appoint a magistrate as the Deputy 6
State Coroner. 7
(2) The appointment-- 8
(a) is for an initial term of not more than 5 years; and 9
(b) may be renewed once for a term of not more than 5 years. 10
78 Functions and powers of Deputy State Coroner 11
In addition to the functions and powers of a magistrate and coroner, the 12
Deputy State Coroner has the functions and powers of the Deputy State 13
Coroner under this or another Act. 14
79 When person stops being the Deputy State Coroner 15
(1) A person stops being the Deputy State Coroner-- 16
(a) while the person is suspended as a magistrate; or 17
(b) if the person stops being a magistrate. 18
(2) For a magistrate who is the Deputy State Coroner, the duties 19
mentioned in the Magistrates Act 1991, section 15(4)36 include the duties 20
of the Deputy State Coroner. 21
80 Acting as Deputy State Coroner 22
(1) This section applies if-- 23
(a) the Deputy State Coroner's position is vacant; or 24
36 Magistrates Act 1991, section 15 (Suspension of Magistrate)
s 81 56 s 81
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) the Deputy State Coroner is not available to perform the Deputy 1
State Coroner's functions, because of absence or another reason. 2
(2) The State Coroner may appoint a magistrate to act as the Deputy 3
State Coroner. 4
(3) However, before appointing a magistrate to act, the State Coroner 5
must discuss the matter with the Chief Magistrate. 6
(4) The instrument of appointment must state the period of the 7
appointment. 8
(5) The period of appointment must not be longer than 6 months. 9
(6) However, the appointment may be renewed at any time. 10
(7) In this section-- 11
"magistrate" does not include a person who is acting as a magistrate. 12
Division 4--Other coroners 13
81 Local coroners 14
(1) Every magistrate is a coroner (a "local coroner"). 15
(2) As well as the functions and powers of a magistrate, a local coroner 16
has the functions and powers of a coroner under this or another Act. 17
(3) A person stops being a local coroner-- 18
(a) while the person is suspended as a magistrate; or 19
(b) if the person stops being a magistrate. 20
(4) For a magistrate who is a local coroner, the duties of office 21
mentioned in the Magistrates Act 1991, section 15(4),37 include the duties 22
of a coroner. 23
(5) In this section-- 24
"magistrate" includes a person who is acting as a magistrate. 25
37 Magistrates Act 1991, section 15 (Suspension of Magistrate)
s 82 57 s 85
Coroners Bill 2002
82 Appointed coroners 1
(1) The Governor in Council may appoint a person as a coroner (an 2
"appointed coroner") if the person has been a lawyer for at least 5 years. 3
(2) An appointed coroner is entitled to the remuneration, allowances and 4
employment conditions decided by the Governor in Council. 5
(3) The office of an appointed coroner is not subject to-- 6
(a) an industrial instrument under the Industrial Relations Act 1999; 7
or 8
(b) a decision or rule of the industrial court or industrial commission. 9
(4) An appointed coroner has the functions and powers of a coroner 10
under this or another Act. 11
Division 5--Registrar and deputy registrars 12
83 Registrar 13
(1) The Governor in Council may, by gazette notice, appoint a person as 14
the registrar. 15
(2) The registrar is employed under the Public Service Act 1996. 16
84 Deputy registrars 17
(1) The Governor in Council may, by gazette notice, appoint a person as 18
a deputy registrar. 19
(2) Also, each clerk of the court under the Justices Act 1886, other than a 20
police officer, is a deputy registrar. 21
(3) Each deputy registrar is employed under the Public Service Act 1996. 22
85 Delegation of powers to registrar or deputy registrars 23
(1) The State Coroner may delegate a power to-- 24
(a) the registrar; or 25
(b) an appropriately qualified deputy registrar. 26
(2) Another coroner may, with the State Coroner's approval, delegate a 27
power to-- 28
s 85 58 s 85
Coroners Bill 2002
(a) the registrar; or 1
(b) an appropriately qualified deputy registrar. 2
(3) Without limiting subsection (1) or (2), a coroner may delegate the act 3
of receiving a report under section 738 to-- 4
(a) the registrar; or 5
(b) an appropriately qualified deputy registrar. 6
(4) The State Coroner must consult with the chief executive about the 7
amount of work to be done by the deputy registrar under the delegation, 8
before-- 9
(a) delegating a power to a deputy registrar; or 10
(b) approving the delegation of a power to a deputy registrar. 11
(5) In this section-- 12
"appropriately qualified" includes having the qualifications, experience 13
or standing appropriate to exercise the power. 14
"power"-- 15
(a) includes the power to issue a permission to cremate under the 16
Cremations Act 2002; but 17
(b) does not include-- 18
(i) the power to conduct an inquest, including the power to 19
make findings at the inquest; or 20
(ii) the power to require a person to give information relevant to 21
an investigation under section 16;39 or 22
(iii) the power to authorise a police officer to exercise a power 23
under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000. 24
38 Section 7 (Duty to report deaths)
39 Section 16 (Duty to help investigation)
s 86 59 s 89
Coroners Bill 2002
Division 6--Other general provisions about coroners 1
86 Obstruction 2
A person must not obstruct a coroner or other person performing a 3
function under this Act, unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 4
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 5
87 Immunity 6
(1) When performing a function of a coroner under this or another Act, a 7
coroner has the same protection and immunity as a Supreme Court judge in 8
a Supreme Court proceeding. 9
(2) A person representing a person before the Coroners Court has the 10
same protection and immunity as a lawyer appearing for a party in a 11
Supreme Court proceeding. 12
(3) Subject to section 38,40 a person appearing as a witness before the 13
Coroners Court has the same protection and immunity as a witness 14
appearing in a Supreme Court proceeding. 15
(4) In this section-- 16
"function" includes an administrative function. 17
"Supreme Court proceeding" means a judicial proceeding in the 18
Supreme Court. 19
88 Coroner as witness 20
(1) A coroner can not be called to give evidence in a proceeding about 21
anything that came to the coroner's knowledge in performing a function of 22
a coroner under this or another Act. 23
(2) However, this section does not apply to a proceeding relating to a 24
coroner's suspension as a magistrate. 25
89 Coroner's orders 26
A coroner's order must be put into writing. 27
40 Section 38 (Incriminating evidence)
s 90 60 s 92
Coroners Bill 2002
90 Coroner's service counts as magistrate's service 1
When working out a coroner's rights as a magistrate, service as a 2
coroner counts as service as a magistrate. 3
PART 5--MISCELLANEOUS 4
91 Register of deaths 5
(1) The State Coroner must establish a register of all deaths or suspected 6
deaths investigated under this Act. 7
(2) The register must contain the following information for each death-- 8
(a) the date on which the person's death was reported or otherwise 9
brought to the coroner's notice; 10
(b) a summary of any findings of the investigation, including any 11
inquest; 12
(c) a summary of any comments made at any inquest. 13
(3) For each death or suspected death that a coroner investigates, the 14
coroner must give the information mentioned in subsection (2) to the State 15
Coroner. 16
92 National coronial database 17
(1) This section applies if an entity, including a government entity, 18
maintains a database about coronial investigations. 19
(2) The Minister may, for the State, enter into an arrangement with the 20
entity for stated information obtained under this Act to be included in the 21
database. 22
(3) The Minister may enter into the arrangement only if satisfied-- 23
(a) the entity has a legitimate interest in storing the information in 24
the database; and 25
(b) the entity will make the information available only to persons 26
with a legitimate interest in obtaining it; and 27
s 93 61 s 94
Coroners Bill 2002
(c) the conditions for making the information available to database 1
users are reasonable. 2
(4) This section does not affect, and is not affected by, section 52.41 3
93 Evidentiary aids 4
(1) In a proceeding, the following matters must be presumed unless a 5
party to the proceeding, by reasonable notice, requires proof of the 6
matter-- 7
(a) the appointment of a coroner, the registrar or a deputy registrar; 8
(b) the power of a coroner, the registrar or a deputy registrar to do 9
anything under this Act. 10
(2) A signature purporting to be the signature of a coroner is evidence of 11
the signature it purports to be. 12
(3) A certificate purporting to be signed by a coroner, the registrar or a 13
deputy registrar stating any of the following is evidence of the things it 14
states-- 15
(a) a stated document is an order, direction, requirement or decision, 16
or a copy of an order, direction, requirement or decision, given or 17
made under this Act; 18
(b) a stated document is a notice, or a copy of a notice, given under 19
this Act; 20
(c) a stated document is a record, or a copy of a record, kept under 21
this Act; 22
(d) a stated document is a document, or a copy of a document, kept 23
under this Act. 24
94 Authorising burial of body etc. 25
(1) A person must not-- 26
(a) prepare a human body for burial; or 27
(b) bury a human body; or 28
(c) take a human body out of Queensland; 29
41 Section 52 (Access to investigation documents for research purposes)
s 95 62 s 95
Coroners Bill 2002
unless the person is authorised to do so under subsection (2). 1
Maximum penalty--120 penalty units. 2
(2) A person is authorised if-- 3
(a) for a death investigated by a coroner-- 4
(i) a medical certificate of the cause of death, or perinatal 5
death, under the Registration of Births, Deaths and 6
Marriages Act 1962 has been issued with the coroner's 7
consent; or 8
(ii) the coroner has ordered the release of the body under 9
section 26;42 or 10
(b) for a death investigated by a non-Queensland coroner--a 11
non-Queensland coroner's release certificate has been issued; or 12
(c) otherwise--a cause of death certificate has been issued. 13
(3) This section does not apply to-- 14
(a) part of a human body taken during an autopsy under-- 15
(i) this Act, the Coroners Act 1958 or the Transplantation and 16
Anatomy Act 1979; or 17
(ii) an Act of another State or country that is similar in effect to 18
an Act mentioned in subparagraph (i); or 19
(b) part of a human body taken during a medical procedure; or 20
(c) indigenous burial remains; or 21
(d) the taking of a human body to any type of mortuary. 22
95 Application of Act to stillborn child 23
Only sections 12(2)(c), 19(1)(b) and 26(2)(c) of this Act apply to a
43
24
stillborn child. 25
42 Section 26 (Control of body)
43 Sections 12 (Deaths not to be investigated or further investigated), 19 (Order for
autopsy) and 26 (Control of body)
s 96 63 s 96
Coroners Bill 2002
96 Meaning of "de facto partner" 1
(1) In this Act, a reference to a "de facto partner" is a reference to 2
either 1 of 2 persons who are living together as a couple on a genuine 3
domestic basis but who are not married to each other or related by family. 4
(2) In deciding whether 2 persons are living together as a couple on a 5
genuine domestic basis, any of their circumstances may be taken into 6
account, including, for example, any of the following circumstances-- 7
(a) the nature and extent of their common residence; 8
(b) the length of their relationship; 9
(c) whether or not a sexual relationship exists or existed; 10
(d) the degree of financial dependence or interdependence, and any 11
arrangement for financial support; 12
(e) their ownership, use and acquisition of property; 13
(f) the degree of mutual commitment to a shared life, including the 14
care and support of each other; 15
(g) the care and support of children; 16
(h) the performance of household tasks; 17
(i) the reputation and public aspects of their relationship. 18
(3) No particular finding in relation to any circumstance is to be regarded 19
as necessary in deciding whether 2 persons are living together as a couple 20
on a genuine domestic basis. 21
(4) Two persons are not to be regarded as living together as a couple on a 22
genuine domestic basis only because they have a common residence. 23
(5) For subsection (1)-- 24
(a) the gender of the persons is not relevant; and 25
(b) a person is related by family to another person if the person and 26
the other person would be within a prohibited relationship within 27
the meaning of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cwlth), section 23B, if 28
they were parties to a marriage to which that section applies.44 29
(6) This section, and the definitions "de facto partner" and "spouse" in 30
the dictionary, expire on the commencement of the Acts Interpretation Act 31
1954, section 32DA. 32
44 Marriage Act 1961 (Cwlth), section 23B (Grounds on which marriages are void)
s 97 64 s 99
Coroners Bill 2002
97 Approval of forms 1
The State Coroner may approve forms for use under this Act. 2
98 Regulation-making power 3
(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations under this Act. 4
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a regulation may-- 5
(a) prescribe offences for a contravention of a regulation, and fix a 6
maximum penalty of not more than 20 penalty units for a 7
contravention; or 8
(b) prescribe fees payable under this Act, including for example-- 9
(i) the fee payable to a doctor for an autopsy; or 10
(ii) the fee payable for a copy of an investigation document. 11
PART 6--TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 12
99 When repealed Act still applies 13
(1) The Coroners Act 1958 continues to apply to the following, as if this 14
Act had not been enacted-- 15
(a) a pre-commencement death; 16
(b) a pre-commencement fire. 17
(2) However, despite subsection (1), this Act applies to-- 18
(a) the release of an investigation document relating to a 19
pre-commencement death or fire for research purposes; and 20
(b) the fees payable for the release of an investigation document for 21
any purpose. 22
(3) In this section-- 23
"pre-commencement death" means a death-- 24
(a) that was reported to a police officer or coroner before the 25
commencement of this section; or 26
s 100 65 s 102
Coroners Bill 2002
(b) in relation to which an inquest was held before the 1
commencement of this section, but reopened after the 2
commencement. 3
"pre-commencement fire" means a fire in relation to which-- 4
(a) a coroner formed the opinion, before the commencement of this 5
section, that an inquest should be held; or 6
(b) the Minister has, before the commencement of this section, 7
directed a coroner to hold an inquest; or 8
(c) a person who requested that an inquest into the fire be held had 9
complied with the Coroners Act 1958, section 8(1)(c) before the 10
commencement of this section. 11
100 Appointments continue 12
(1) A clerk of the court, or acting clerk of the court, who immediately 13
before the commencement of this section was holding an inquest is taken to 14
be a coroner for the purpose of the inquest. 15
(2) Another person who, immediately before the commencement of this 16
section, held an appointment to a position under the Coroners Act 1958 that 17
is equivalent to a position under this Act is taken to hold the position under 18
this Act. 19
(3) The person continues to hold the appointment subject to this Act 20
until-- 21
(a) the end of the term of appointment; or 22
(b) reappointed under this Act. 23
101 Orders continue 24
An order of the Coroners Court, or a coroner, that is in force 25
immediately before the commencement of this section continues to have 26
effect after the commencement. 27
102 References to repealed Act 28
A reference to the Coroners Act 1958 in an Act or document may, if the 29
context allows, be taken to be a reference to this Act. 30
s 103 66 s 105
Coroners Bill 2002
103 Common law overridden 1
(1) A rule of common law that, immediately before the commencement 2
of this section, operated to impose a duty or confer a power on a coroner of 3
the Coroners Court, has no effect after the commencement. 4
(2) In particular-- 5
(a) a coroner investigating a person's death need not view the 6
person's body unless the coroner chooses to; and 7
(b) a Coroners Court does not sit with a jury. 8
PART 7--REPEAL 9
104 Repeal 10
The Coroners Act 1958 is repealed. 11
PART 8--CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS 12
105 Consequential amendments 13
Schedule 1 amends the Acts it mentions. 14
67
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 1
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS 2
section 105 3
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS ACT 1984 4
1 Section 10(1)(d), after `1958'-- 5
insert-- 6
`or the Coroners Act 2002'. 7
EVIDENCE ACT 1977 8
1 Section 39C, definition "Queensland court", paragraph (b)-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`(b) the Coroners Court; or'. 11
2 Section 39E(1), after `on the'-- 12
insert-- 13
`court's own initiative or on the'. 14
FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE ACT 1990 15
1 Section 130-- 16
omit. 17
68
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1992 1
1 Section 7-- 2
insert-- 3
` "coroner" means the State Coroner or another coroner under the 4
Coroners Act 2002.'. 5
2 After section 11B-- 6
insert-- 7
`11C Application of Act to coronial documents 8
`(1) This section applies to a document of an agency that is a coronial 9
document under the Coroners Act 2002. 10
`(2) This Act applies to a coronial document obtained by the agency 11
under the Coroners Act 2002, section 25 or 53(4).45 12
`(3) This Act does not apply to another coronial document if a coroner is 13
investigating the death to which the document relates.'. 14
HEALTH SERVICES ACT 1991 15
1 Part 6, division 1-- 16
insert-- 17
`57A Application of section 57 to person under Coroners Act 2002 18
`Section 57 does not apply to the disclosure of information to a person 19
who requires the information to perform a function under the Coroners Act 20
2002, other than the preparation of an annual report.'. 21
45 Coroners Act 2002, section 25 (Autopsy reports) or 53 (Access to investigation
documents for other purposes)
69
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
2 After section 63-- 1
insert-- 2
`63A Application of section 63 to person under Coroners Act 2002 3
`Section 63 does not apply to the giving of information to a person who 4
requires the information to perform a function under the Coroners Act 5
2002, other than the preparation of an annual report.'. 6
POLICE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES ACT 2000 7
1 Chapter 9-- 8
insert-- 9
`PART 4A--POWERS FOR ASSISTING CORONERS 10
`371AA Entry of place on suspicion of death or injury 11
`(1) This section applies if a police officer reasonably suspects someone 12
in a place is dead or in need of urgent medical treatment. 13
14
Example--
15
A police officer may form a reasonable suspicion because of a person's concerns about
16
an elderly neighbour who has not been seen for several days and whose absence can not
17
otherwise be explained.
`(2) The police officer may enter the place to find out whether someone 18
in the place is dead or in need of urgent medical treatment. 19
`(3) If a person at the place is found dead or in need of urgent medical 20
treatment, the police officer may remain at the place for only as long as is 21
necessary to ensure that anything necessary to be done for the person is 22
done. 23
24
Examples for subsection (3)--
25
1. It may be necessary for a body to be taken to a mortuary.
26
2. It may be necessary for an ambulance to be called to take a person to hospital.
27
3. It may be necessary for a police photographer to photograph a body or other thing
28
that may help a coroner establish the cause of death of the person.
29
4. It may be necessary to take steps to secure the premises.
70
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
`371AB Powers for reportable deaths 1
`(1) This section applies if-- 2
(a) a police officer attends a place where there is the body of a 3
deceased person; and 4
(b) the officer reasonably believes the person's death is a death that 5
must, under the Coroners Act 2002, be reported to a coroner. 6
`(2) The officer may arrange for the person's body to be taken to a 7
mortuary where autopsies ordered by coroners are conducted.46 8
`(3) The officer may take reasonable steps to restrict entry to the place 9
for as long as is necessary to arrange for the person's body to be taken to 10
the mortuary. 11
`(4) The officer may seize anything at the place that the officer 12
reasonably suspects may be relevant to an investigation of the death by a 13
coroner. 14
`(5) The officer may photograph the body, or anything else at the place 15
that the officer reasonably suspects may be relevant to an investigation of 16
the death by a coroner. 17
`(6) The officer may stay on the place and re-enter it for the time 18
reasonably necessary to do something permitted under this section. 19
`371AC Restricting entry to place to allow investigation 20
`(1) This section applies if-- 21
(a) a coroner is investigating a death at a place where-- 22
(i) the death is believed to have happened; or 23
(ii) something that caused or contributed to the death is believed 24
to have happened; and 25
(b) the place is not a crime scene; and 26
(c) the coroner directs a police officer to restrict entry to the place. 27
46 See the Coroners Act 2002, section 18(2)(a) for the power of a police officer to give
directions to a person taking the body to a mortuary.
71
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
`(2) The officer may take reasonable steps to restrict entry to the place 1
by anyone other than-- 2
(a) a police officer or another person who is helping the coroner 3
investigate the death; or 4
(b) a person whose presence is needed to preserve life or property at 5
the place; or 6
(c) someone who has the coroner's permission to be at the place. 7
`(3) The officer must not restrict entry to the place for any longer than is 8
necessary for the investigation. 9
`(4) A person must not enter a place to which entry is restricted, unless 10
the person has a reasonable excuse. 11
Maximum penalty for subsection (4)--120 penalty units. 12
`371AD Coroner's search warrant 13
`(1) A coroner may, on his or her own initiative, issue a search warrant 14
for a place if the coroner reasonably suspects that there is evidence at the 15
place that may be relevant to the coroner's investigation. 16
`(2) The search warrant must state-- 17
(a) that a police officer may exercise the powers mentioned in 18
subsection (4) at the place; and 19
(b) the hours when the place may be entered; and 20
(c) the day and time the search warrant ends, being no more than 7 21
days after the search warrant is issued. 22
`(3) The ways that a coroner may send the search warrant to a police 23
officer include by fax or other electronic means. 24
`(4) Under the search warrant, a police officer has-- 25
(a) the powers described in section 74(1)(a) to (e) and (g); and 26
(b) power to seize a thing found at the place, or on a person found at 27
the place, that the police officer reasonably suspects may be 28
relevant to the coroner's investigation; and 29
30
Example of paragraph (b)--
31
A suicide note.
72
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
(c) power to inspect, measure, photograph or film the place or 1
anything at the place; and 2
(d) power to take a thing, or a sample of a thing, from the place for 3
testing; and 4
(e) power to copy a document at the place; and 5
(f) power to require a person at the place to give the police officer 6
reasonable help to exercise the powers mentioned in 7
paragraphs (a) to (e). 8
`(5) A police officer must comply with section 75 when executing the 9
search warrant. 10
`(6) In this section-- 11
"coroner" means a coroner who is investigating a death under the 12
Coroners Act 2002, either before or during an inquest. 13
`371AE Dealing with seized things 14
`(1) This section applies if a police officer seizes something under-- 15
(a) section 371AB(4); or 16
(b) a search warrant issued under section 371AD. 17
`(2) Having seized something, the officer may-- 18
(a) move the thing from the place; or 19
(b) leave the thing at the place, but take reasonable action to restrict 20
access to it; or 21
22
Examples of restricting access to a thing--
23
1. Sealing a thing and marking it to show access to it is restricted.
24
2. Sealing the entrance to a room where the thing is situated and marking
25
it to show access to it is restricted.
(c) deal with the thing in another way that a coroner directs. 26
`(3) If the police officer restricts access to a seized thing, a person must 27
not tamper, or attempt to tamper, with the thing, or something restricting 28
access to the thing, without the approval of a police officer. 29
Maximum penalty--120 penalty units. 30
73
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
`371AF Power to require information 1
`(1) This section applies if-- 2
(a) a police officer is helping a coroner to investigate a death; and 3
(b) the officer reasonably believes a person may be able to give 4
information relevant to the investigation. 5
`(2) The officer may require the person to give information relevant to 6
the investigation. 7
`(3) If the person fails to comply with the requirement, the officer must 8
inform the person that the person may-- 9
(a) fail to give the information if the information would tend to 10
incriminate the person; and 11
(b) seek legal advice before giving the information. 12
`371AG Use of evidence obtained under Coroners Acts 13
`To remove doubt, it is declared that a thing obtained by a police officer 14
under this part may be used in a criminal proceeding.'. 15
2 Section 381(1), after `justice'-- 16
insert-- 17
`or coroner'. 18
3 Section 420-- 19
insert-- 20
`(3) Also, this part, apart from section 441, does not apply to something 21
seized under chapter 9, part 4A47 if a coroner decides the death is a 22
reportable death.'. 23
47 Chapter 9, part 4A (Powers for assisting coroners)
74
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
4 Chapter 12, part 2-- 1
insert-- 2
`447A Assisting coroner to investigate a death 3
`(1) It is the duty of police officers to assist coroners in the performance 4
of a function, or exercise of a power, under the Coroners Act 2002, 5
including-- 6
(a) the investigation of deaths; and 7
(b) the conduct of inquests. 8
`(2) Without limiting subsection (1), it is the duty of police officers to 9
comply with every reasonable and lawful request, or direction, of a 10
coroner.'. 11
5 Schedule 1-- 12
insert-- 13
`Coroners Act 2002'. 14
6 Schedule 4, definition "enforcement act"-- 15
insert-- 16
`(l) the entry of a place under section 371AA48 to find out whether 17
someone in the place is dead or in need of urgent medical 18
treatment.'. 19
7 Schedule 4, definition "search warrant"-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
` "search warrant" see section 68 or 371AD. '. 49
22
48 Section 371AA (Entry of place on suspicion of death or injury)
49 Section 68 (Search warrant application) or 371AD (Coroner's search warrant)
75
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITIES ACT 1999 1
1 After section 147-- 2
insert-- 3
`147A Application of section 147 to person under Coroners Act 2002 4
`Section 147 does not apply to the disclosure of information to a person 5
who requires the information to perform a function under the Coroners Act 6
2002, other than the preparation of an annual report.'. 7
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS AND 8
MARRIAGES ACT 1962 9
1 Section 5(1)-- 10
insert-- 11
` "Coroners Act" means the Coroners Act 1958 or Coroners Act 2002. 12
"inquiry" by a coroner includes an investigation by the coroner under the 13
Coroners Act 2002. 14
"post-mortem examination" includes an autopsy under the Coroners Act 15
2002.'. 16
2 Sections 5(1), definition "coroner", 24(4), 31(1), 34(1) and 39, 17
`Coroners Act 1958'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`Coroners Act'. 20
3 Section 21-- 21
insert-- 22
`(2) For a death that was investigated by a coroner under the Coroners 23
Act 2002, if-- 24
76
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
(a) the registrar general has received a certificate under section 31;50 1
and 2
(b) the registration of death, apart from the entry of the results of the 3
coroner's investigation, is complete; 4
the registrar general or a district registrar may give an applicant a certified 5
copy of the entry for the death.'. 6
4 Section 32, after `recommendation of the coroner'-- 7
insert-- 8
`, or a coroner under the Coroners Act 2002'. 9
5 Section 33, from `Where' to `of the State,'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`If a coroner issues an order or certificate for disposal'. 12
6 Section 33-- 13
insert-- 14
`(2) In this section-- 15
"order or certificate for disposal" means-- 16
(a) an order for the burial, a certificate for the cremation, or an order 17
for the removal out of the State, of the body of a deceased person 18
under the Coroners Act 1958; or 19
(b) an order under the Coroners Act 2002, section 26(2)(a), (d) 20
or (f).51'. 21
50 Section 31 (Post-mortem examination certificate)
51 Coroners Act 2002, section 26 (Control of body)
77
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
7 Section 34(1), from `under the' to `removal out of the State'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`for disposal'. 3
8 Section 34(2), after `section 21'-- 4
insert-- 5
`or the Coroners Act 2002, section 94 '. 52
6
9 Section 34-- 7
insert-- 8
`(3) In this section-- 9
"order for disposal" means-- 10
(a) an order for the removal out of the State of the body of a 11
deceased person under the Coroners Act 1958; or 12
(b) an order under the Coroners Act 2002, section 26(2)(d).53'. 13
TRANSPLANTATION AND ANATOMY ACT 1979 14
1 Sections 4(1) and 29(8), definition "coroner"-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
` "coroner" means a coroner under the Coroners Act 1958 or Coroners Act 17
2002.'. 18
2 Sections 24(1)(a), 28(1)(a) and 34(1)(a)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
52 Coroners Act 2002, section 94 (Authorising burial of body etc.)
53 Coroners Act 2002, section 26 (Control of body)
78
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
`(a) whose death must be reported under the Coroners Act 1958, 1
section 12 or 1354 or the Coroners Act 2002, section 7;55 or'. 2
3 Sections 24(1)(b), 28(1)(b) and 34(1)(b), after `of the death'-- 3
insert-- 4
`or is directed by the Minister under the Coroners Act 2002, section 1156 5
to investigate'. 6
4 Section 29(5), after `any period'-- 7
insert-- 8
`, but apply subject to the Coroners Act 2002, section 2457'. 9
5 Section 29(8), definition "examination order", `under the'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`under-- 12
(a) the'. 13
6 Section 29(8), definition "examination order", `person.'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`person; or'. 16
54 Coroners Act 1958, section 12 (Duty to notify discovery of dead body) or 13
(Medical practitioner to notify coroner)
55 Coroners Act 2002, section 7 (Duty to report deaths)
56 Coroners Act 2002, section 11 (Deaths to be investigated)
57 Coroners Act 2002, section 24 (Removing tissue for autopsy testing)
79
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
7 Section 29(8), definition "examination order"-- 1
insert-- 2
`(b) the Coroners Act 2002, section 19 or 23.58'. 3
8 Section 48(3)(a), after `1958'-- 4
insert-- 5
`or the Coroners Act 2002'. 6
58 Section 19 (Order for autopsy) or 23 (Autopsy testing)
80
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 2 1
DICTIONARY 2
section 6 3
"accessing" a document includes getting a copy of the document. 4
"appointed coroner" see section 82.59 5
"ATSI family member", for a deceased person who was an Aboriginal 6
person or Torres Strait Islander, means a person who is an appropriate 7
person according to the tradition or custom of the Aboriginal or Torres 8
Strait Islander community to which the deceased person belonged. 9
"attending doctor" of a deceased person means a doctor who attended the 10
deceased person professionally-- 11
(a) at or immediately before the deceased person's death; or 12
(b) during the deceased person's last illness. 13
"autopsy report" means a written report prepared by a doctor, including a 14
preliminary report, to record information about the autopsy on a 15
deceased person, including for example-- 16
(a) the results of any tests that were conducted as part of the autopsy; 17
or 18
(b) the cause of the person's death. 19
"body" means-- 20
(a) a human body; or 21
(b) part of a human body. 22
"burial" includes cremation or other lawful disposal, either in Queensland 23
or elsewhere. 24
"cause of death certificate" means-- 25
59 Section 82 (Appointed coroners)
81
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 2 (continued)
(a) a medical certificate of the cause of death, or perinatal death, 1
under the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 2
1962; or 3
(b) a similar certificate issued under a law of another State or 4
country that is similar in effect to the Registration of Births, 5
Deaths and Marriages Act 1962. 6
"comment" includes a recommendation. 7
"confidential document"-- 8
(a) means a document or part of a document obtained under 9
section 17;60 but 10
(b) does not include an autopsy report. 11
"coroner" means-- 12
(a) the State Coroner; or 13
(b) the Deputy State Coroner; or 14
(c) a local coroner; or 15
(d) an appointed coroner. 16
"coronial document", for an investigation under this Act, means a 17
document or part of a document-- 18
(a) prepared for the investigation, other than a record of an inquest 19
made under the Recording of Evidence Act 1962; or 20
(b) seized by a police officer in connection with the investigation. 21
22
Examples--
23
1. An autopsy report.
24
2. A report from a police officer helping a coroner about the investigation into a
25
reportable death.
26
3. A record of the coroner's findings and comments.
"death in care" see section 9.61 27
"death in custody" see section 10.62 28
60 Section 17 (Disclosure of confidential information to Coroners Court)
61 Section 9 ("Death in care" defined)
62 Section 10 ("Death in custody" defined)
82
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 2 (continued)
"de facto partner" see section 96.63 1
"deputy registrar" means a person who holds an appointment as a deputy 2
registrar under section 84.64 3
"direction" see section 14.65 4
"document" includes part of a document. 5
"exhume" a body includes remove a body from a tomb. 6
"family member" of a deceased person means-- 7
(a) a spouse of the deceased person; or 8
(b) if a spouse is not reasonably available--an adult child of the 9
deceased person; or 10
(c) if a spouse or adult child is not reasonably available--a parent of 11
the deceased person; or 12
(d) if a spouse, adult child or parent is not reasonably available--an 13
adult sibling of the deceased person; or 14
(e) if the deceased person was an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait 15
Islander and a spouse, adult child, parent or adult sibling is not 16
reasonably available--an ATSI family member. 17
"government entity" see the Public Service Act 1996, section 21. 18
"guideline" see section 14.66 19
"health chief executive" means the chief executive of the department in 20
which the Health Act 1937 is administered. 21
"health procedure" means a dental, medical, surgical or other health 22
related procedure, including for example the administration of an 23
anaesthetic, analgesic, sedative or other drug. 24
"human body" includes the body of a stillborn child. 25
63 Section 96 (Meaning of "de facto partner")
64 Section 84 (Deputy registrars)
65 Section 14 (Guidelines and directions for investigations)
66 Section 14 (Guidelines and directions for investigations)
83
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 2 (continued)
"indigenous burial remains" means burial remains to which the Cultural 1
Record (Landscapes Queensland and Queensland Estate) Act 1987, 2
section 34 applies. 3
"inquest" means a coronial inquest. 4
"investigation" includes the holding of an inquest. 5
"investigation document", for an investigation under this Act, means-- 6
(a) a confidential document; or 7
(b) a coronial document; or 8
(c) a police document; or 9
(d) another document or part of a document connected to the 10
investigation that the coroner obtains under this Act. 11
"local coroner" see section 81.67 12
"medical procedure" means a diagnostic or surgical procedure. 13
"non-Queensland coroner", in relation to a death, means a person who 14
holds a position equivalent to a coroner at the place where the death 15
happened. 16
"non-Queensland coroner's release certificate" means a certificate 17
that-- 18
(a) authorises the release of the body; and 19
(b) is given by a non-Queensland coroner. 20
"obstruct" includes hinder, resist and attempt to obstruct. 21
"police document" means a document or part of a document prepared, or 22
obtained, by a police officer for a police investigation of an offence 23
that is related to a death being investigated by a coroner. 24
"possess" a document includes have control of a document. 25
"reasonably believes" means believes on reasonable grounds. 26
"registrar" means a person who holds an appointment as a registrar under 27
section 83.68 28
67 Section 83 (Local coroners)
68 Section 83 (Registrar)
84
Coroners Bill 2002
SCHEDULE 2 (continued)
"reportable death" see section 8.69 1
"spouse" includes de facto partner. 2
"stillborn child" means a child not born alive as defined in the 3
Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 1962, 4
section 5(2)(b). 5
"tissue" means-- 6
(a) an organ, blood or part of a body or foetus; or 7
(b) a substance extracted from an organ, blood or part of a body or 8
foetus. 9
10
© State of Queensland 2002
69 Section 8 ("Reportable death" defined)
AMENDMENTS TO BILL
1
Coroners Bill 2002
CORONERS BILL 2002
AMENDMENTS AGREED TO IN COMMITTEE
1 Clause 2--
At page 8, line 6--
omit, insert--
`(1) The amendment of the District Court of Queensland Act 1967 in
schedule 1 commences on 1 May 2003.
(2) The remaining provisions commence on a day to be fixed by
proclamation.'.
2 Clause 7--
At page 10, line 1, `a reportable death is reported'--
omit, insert--
`a death is reported under this section'.
3 Clause 28--
At page 29, lines 1 and 2--
omit.
4 After clause 37--
At page 33, after line 18--
insert--
`37A Recording evidence
`(1) The Coroners Court may decide whether or not proceedings in the
court during a conference held under section 341 are to be recorded under
the Recording of Evidence Act 1962.
1 Section 34 (Pre-inquest conferences)
2
Coroners Bill 2002
`(2) Despite any order made under section 40,2 any other proceedings in
the court must be recorded under the Recording of Evidence Act 1962.
`(3) Subject to an order made under section 40 and the requirements of
the Recording of Evidence Act 1962, anyone is entitled to obtain a copy of
the record under that Act.'.
5 Clause 40--
At page 35, line 15--
omit, insert--
`(6) The Coroners Court may make an order prohibiting--
(a) the issue of the whole or part of a copy of the record made under
the Recording of Evidence Act 1962; or
(b) the publication of the whole or part of a copy of the record made
under that Act.
`(7) A person must comply with the order, unless the person has a
reasonable excuse.
Maximum penalty--150 penalty units.
`(8) In this section--'.
6 Clause 40--
At page 35, lines 17 to 19--
omit, insert--
` "record" includes make an audio recording.'.
7 Clause 50--
At page 41, line 19--
omit, insert--
`(2) The record of the coroner's findings and comments is not evidence
in any court or tribunal of any fact asserted in the record.'.
2 Section 40 (Prohibited publications relating to inquests)
3
Coroners Bill 2002
8 Clause 76--
At page 54, after line 30--
insert--
`(c) a summary of the types of directions that the State Coroner has
given to coroners under section 14.3'.
9 Clause 99--
At page 64, line 23--
omit, insert--
`(3) For a pre-commencement death or pre-commencement fire, the
State Coroner has the functions and powers of a coroner under the
Coroners Act 1958.
`(4) In this section--
"investigation document" includes a document obtained under the
Coroners Act 1958 that is similar in nature to an investigation
document as defined under this Act.'.
10 Part 8--
At page 66, lines 12 and 13--
omit, insert--
`PART 8--MINOR AND CONSEQUENTIAL
AMENDMENTS
`105 Minor and consequential amendments'.
11 Schedule 1--
At page 67, lines 1 and 2--
3 Section 14 (Guidelines and directions for investigations)
4
Coroners Bill 2002
omit, insert--
`SCHEDULE 1
`MINOR AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS'.
12 Schedule 1--
At page 67, after line 7--
insert--
`DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND ACT 1967
`1 Section 61(2)(b), after `208'--
insert--
`, 210(3) or (4)'.'.
13 Schedule 1--
At page 71, lines 20 to 22--
omit, insert--
`(b) brief particulars that identify the death that the coroner is
investigating; and
(c) the evidence that may be seized under the warrant; and
(d) if the warrant is to be executed at night, the hours when the place
may be entered; and
(e) the day and time the search warrant ends, being no more than
7 days after the search warrant is issued.'.
14 Schedule 1--
At page 72, lines 11 to 13--
omit, insert--
5
Coroners Bill 2002
`(6) A police officer must not exercise a power under subsection (4)(c)
to (f) unless the police officer reasonably suspects that the exercise of the
power is necessary for the coroner's investigation.'.
15 Schedule 1--
At page 73, line 8, `If the person fails to comply with the requirement'--
omit, insert--
`When making the requirement'.
16 Schedule 1--
At page 74, after line 14--
insert--
`5A Schedule 4--
insert--
` "coroner" means a coroner under the Coroners Act 2002.'.'.
17 Schedule 2--
At page 81, line 19, after `a record'--
insert--
`, or a copy of a record,'.
18 Schedule 2--
At page 82, line 15--
omit, insert--
`(e) if a spouse, adult child, parent or adult sibling is not reasonably
available--the next nearest adult relative of the deceased person;
or
(f) if the deceased person was an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait'.
6
Coroners Bill 2002
19 Schedule 2--
At page 83, after line 20--
insert--
` "not reasonably available", in relation to a family member of a deceased
person, means--
(a) a family member of that particular type does not exist; or
(b) the family member can not be reasonably contacted; or
(c) the family member is unable or unwilling to act as a family
member for this Act.'.
20 Schedule 2--
At page 83, after line 26--
insert--
` "record" made under the Recording of Evidence Act 1962 includes a
transcription of the record made under that Act.'.
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