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CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to coroners.
[8th December 1959]
Administration of matters relating to coroners.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 1

1. [The Lord Chancellor shall be responsible] for the administration
of all matters relating to coroners.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 2
Appointment of coroners, etc.

2.(1) [The Lord Chancellor may appoint] one, or more than one,
coroner and deputy coroner for such district or districts and on
such conditions as to numbers, remuneration, superannuation or
otherwise as [the Lord Chancellor, after consultation with the
Treasury may determine and may also, in exercise of his powers
under section 69 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978,
appoint coroner's officers and other officers to assist such
coroners].

(2) Sub-section (2) of section eighteen of the Interpretation Act
(Northern Ireland), 1954, shall apply to appointments made under
sub-section (1) save that no coroner or deputy coroner shall be
removed from office otherwise than by order made by the [Lord
Chancellor] after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice.

(3) No person, other than a person who is a coroner in Northern
Ireland immediately before the coming into force of this Act, shall
be appointed a coroner unless he [has practised for not less than
five years either as a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland or
as a solicitor of the Supreme Court].

(4) Any person who is a coroner immediately before the commencement
of this Act shall be deemed to have been appointed a coroner under
this Act and to have been appointed for the same district and on
the same conditions as immediately before the commencement of this
Act.

(5) A coroner shall not act as solicitor or barrister in
proceedings arising out of any matter which may have come before
him as coroner nor act as under-sheriff ....

(6) A solicitor or barrister appointed as coroner or deputy coroner
under this Act shall not conduct any inquest upon the body of, or
hold any inquiry into the death of, any person, if he has drawn
up, or assisted in the drawing up of, and is a beneficiary under,
any testamentary disposition made by such person.

(7) A coroner who is a registered medical practitioner shall not
conduct any inquest upon the body of, or hold any inquiry into the
death of, any person on whom he had, within one month prior to
the death of such person, attended in his capacity as such
practitioner.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 3
Power to amalgamate districts.

3. Upon the death or resignation or removal from office of a
coroner, the [Lord Chancellor], as from such date he may appoint,
may by order amalgamate his district or part of his district with
the district of any other coroner, and as from that date such
other coroner shall be deemed to have been appointed coroner for
the first-mentioned district or part (as the case may be).

S.4 rep. by 1978 c.23 s.122(2) sch.7 Pt.II

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 5
Administrative expenses.

5. All expenses reasonably and properly incurred in connection with
coroners and in relation to the holding of coroners' courts
(including expenses so incurred by coroners in the course of their
duties) shall be defrayed out of [moneys provided by the Parliament
of the United Kingdom].

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 6
Coroner to hold inquests in district to which he is appointed.

6.(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) and of section
fourteen a coroner shall hold inquests only within the district for
which he is, or is deemed to have been, appointed under this Act.

(2) Where the coroner for any district is unable owing to illness,
absence or for any other cause to discharge his duties as such or
neglects or fails to discharge those duties the [Lord Chancellor]
may in writing direct any coroner or other person possessing the
qualifications referred to in sub-section (3) of section two to act,
during such period or periods as the [Lord Chancellor] may specify,
in that district, and such coroner or other person shall during
that period or periods have the same powers and perform the same
duties within that district as the coroner appointed therefor.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 7
Duty to give information to coroner.

7. Every medical practitioner, registrar of deaths or funeral
undertaker and every occupier of a house or mobile dwelling and
every person in charge of any institution or premises in which a
deceased person was residing, who has reason to believe that the
deceased person died, either directly or indirectly, as a result of
violence or misadventure or by unfair means, or as a result of
negligence or misconduct or malpractice on the part of others, or
from any cause other than natural illness or disease for which he
had been seen and treated by a registered medical practitioner
within twenty-eight days prior to his death, or in such
circumstances as may require investigation (including death as the
result of the administration of an anaesthetic), shall immediately
notify the coroner within whose district the body of such deceased
person is of the facts and circumstances relating to the death.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 8
Police to inform coroner.

8. Whenever a dead body is found, or an unexpected or unexplained
death, or a death attended by suspicious circumstances, occurs, the
district inspector within whose district the body is found, or the
death occurs, shall give or cause to be given immediate notice in
writing thereof to the coroner within whose district the body is
found or the death occurs, together with such information also in
writing as he is able to obtain concerning the finding of the body
or concerning the death.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 9
Cremation, etc., prohibited.

9. Where there is reason to believe that a deceased person died in
any of the circumstances mentioned in section seven, the body of
the deceased person shall not be cremated or buried and no chemical
shall be applied to it externally or internally and no alteration
of any kind shall be made thereto until the coroner so authorises.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 10
Enforcement of ss.7 and 9.

10.(1) Every person who contravenes section seven shall be guilty of
an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not
exceeding twenty pounds.

(2) Every person who contravenes section nine shall be guilty of an
offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
fifty pounds.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 11
Coroner may take possession of body.

11.(1) Where a coroner is informed that there is within his
district the body of a deceased person and that there is reason to
believe that the deceased person died in any of the circumstances
mentioned in section seven or section eight he shall instruct a
constable to take possession of the body and shall make such
investigation as may be required to enable him to determine whether
or not an inquest is necessary.

(2) For the purposes of an investigation under sub-section (1) the
coroner may view the body but shall not be obliged to do so.

(3) The coroner may, with the consent of the [Lord Chancellor],
employ such persons as he considers necessary to assist him in such
investigation.

(4) For the purposes of exercising his powers under this section, a
coroner may direct the exhumation of any body which has been buried
within his district and the consent of any other authority or
person to any exhumation so directed shall not be required by any
rules or regulations under section one hundred and eighty-one of the
Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 12
Coroner may order deposit of body.

12.(1) Where a coroner considers it necessary to hold an inquest
on, or post-mortem examination of, a dead body he may direct that
the body shall be brought into a convenient mortuary or morgue or
other suitable place (whether within or without his district) and
may make such arrangements for the transport thereof as he shall
think necessary or desirable; and the person in charge of such
mortuary or morgue or place shall allow the body to be deposited
in it and shall be responsible for the custody thereof until the
inquest or examination shall have been held.

(2) Any person in charge of a mortuary or morgue or place who
contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) The removal of a body in pursuance of an order made by a
coroner under this section to any place outside his district shall
not affect his powers and duties in relation to the body or the
inquest thereon, nor shall it confer or impose any rights, powers
or duties upon any other coroner.

(4) Expenses reasonably and properly incurred by a coroner in
connection with the transport, deposit and custody of a dead body
shall be defrayed as part of the expenses incurred by him in the
course of his duties.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 13
Coroner may hold inquest.

13.[(1) Subject to sub-section (2)] a coroner within whose district

(a)a dead body is found; or

(b)an unexpected or unexplained death, or a death in suspicious
circumstances or in any of the circumstances mentioned in section
seven, occurs;

[(2) Where more than one death occurs as a result of any
circumstances and it appears to any coroner who may hold an inquest
into one of the deaths under sub-section (1) that one inquest ought
to be held into all the deaths so resulting he may

(a)with the consent of any other coroner who may hold an inquest
into one of the deaths, hold the inquest; or

(b)request that other coroner to hold the inquest.]

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 14
Inquest on order of Attorney General.

14. Where the Attorney General has reason to believe that a
deceased person has died in circumstances which in his opinion make
the holding of an inquest advisable he may direct any coroner
(whether or not he is the coroner for the district in which the
death has occurred) to conduct an inquest into the death of that
person, and that coroner shall proceed to conduct an inquest in
accordance with the provisions of this Act (and as if, not being
the coroner for the district in which the death occurred, he were
such coroner) whether or not he or any other coroner has viewed
the body, made any inquiry or investigation, held any inquest into
or done any other act in connection with the death.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 15
Inquest without exhuming body.

15. Where the body of any person upon whom it is necessary to
hold an inquest has been buried and it is known to the coroner
that no good purpose will be effected by exhuming the same for the
purposes of an inquest he may proceed to hold an inquest without
having exhumed the body.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 16
Inquest where body cannot be found.

16. Where a coroner is satisfied that the death of any person has
occurred within the district for which he is appointed but, either
from the nature of the event causing the death or for some other
reason, neither the body nor any part thereof can be found or
recovered, he may proceed to hold an inquest.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 17
Witnesses to be summoned.

17.(1) Where a coroner proceeds to hold an inquest, whether with or
without a jury, he may issue a summons for any witness whom he
thinks necessary to attend such inquest at the time and place
specified in the summons, for the purpose of giving evidence
relative to such dead body and shall deliver or cause to be
delivered all such summonses to a constable who shall forthwith
proceed to serve the same.

(2) Nothing in this section shall prevent a person who has not
been summoned from giving evidence at an inquest.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 18
Jury must be summoned in certain cases.

18.(1) If it appears to the coroner, either before he proceeds to
hold an inquest or in the course of an inquest begun without a
jury, that there is reason to suspect that

Para.(a) rep. by 1980 NI 6 art.13 sch.2

(b)the death occurred in prison; or

(c)the death was caused by an accident, poisoning or disease notice
of which is required, under or in pursuance of any enactment, to
be given to a government department, or to any inspector or other
officer of a government department [or to an inspector appointed
under Article 21 of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern
Ireland) Order 1978]; or

Para.(d) rep. by 1980 NI 6 art.13 sch.2

(e)the death occurred in circumstances the continuance or possible
recurrence of which is prejudicial to the health or safety of the
public or any section of the public;

(2) If in any case other than those referred to in sub-section (1)
it appears to the coroner, either before or in the course of an
inquest begun without a jury, that it is desirable to summon a
jury, he may proceed to cause a jury to be summoned in accordance
with the said sub-section.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 19
Service of summonses.

19. A summons to a juror or witness may be served by personal
service or by post pursuant to sub-section (1) of section
twenty-four of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland), 1954.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 20
Provisions as to Jurymen and witnesses.

20.(1) Where a person duly summoned to serve as a juror or as a
witness does not appear in answer to the summons, the coroner may,
after proof upon oath that the summons has been served, and in the
absence of any reasonable excuse, impose upon such person a fine
not exceeding ten pounds.

(2) Where a person summoned to serve as a juror or as a witness
appears before the coroner, and refuses without reasonable excuse so
to serve or testify, the coroner may impose upon such person a
fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Subs. (3) rep. by SLR 1973

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 21
Number of jurors.

21. A jury at an inquest held by a coroner shall consist of not
less than seven and not more than eleven persons.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 22
View of body on inquest.

22. For the purposes of an inquest other than an inquest to which
section fifteen or section sixteen applies

(a)the coroner may view the body but shall not be obliged to do
so;

(b)no juror shall be required to view the body unless the coroner,
having himself viewed the body, considers that a view is necessary
in order to assist the jury in arriving at their verdict; and

(c)every juror shall have the right to view the body if he so
wishes.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 23
Certificate to registrar of deaths following inquest.

23. Where an inquest is held on a dead body, the coroner shall
send to the appropriate registrar of deaths, within five days after
the inquest has been held, a certificate under his hand, giving the
particulars required to be registered concerning the death, the
findings with respect to those particulars, and to the cause of
death, and stating the date and place at which the inquest was
held; and the registrar shall, in the form and manner prescribed
under the Births and Deaths Registration Acts (Northern Ireland),
1863 to 1956, enter the particulars concerning the death, and shall
state in such entry that the information was received from the
coroner.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 24
Authority for burial where inquest unnecessary.

24.(1) Where a coroner decides that an inquest is unnecessary he
shall issue his authority to bury the body, and shall forthwith
transmit to the registrar of deaths a statement setting forth
briefly the result of the investigation and the grounds on which
the authority was issued.

(2) Such statement shall contain particulars of the cause of death
sufficient to enable the registrar of deaths to register the death.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 25
Removal of body outside Northern Ireland.

25. Where it is brought to the notice of a coroner that it is
intended to remove out of Northern Ireland the body of a deceased
person which is within his jurisdiction he may certify, in such
manner as may be prescribed, that he has been satisfied as to the
cause of death and that no circumstances exist necessitating the
retention of the body, or any part thereof, in Northern Ireland.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 26
Lord Chancellor to keep list of anatomists and pathologists.

26. The [Lord Chancellor] shall keep a list of registered medical
practitioners [employed by the Secretary of State under Article 11
of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 or with whom
the Secretary of State has entered into an arrangement under that
Article for the provision of the practitioner's services] to conduct
post-mortem examinations or analyses and shall furnish coroners with
copies of such list.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 27
Post-mortem examination.

27.(1) Where on any inquest it appears to a coroner that the cause
of death has not been satisfactorily explained to him, he may, ...,
employ a registered medical practitioner on the list mentioned in
section twenty-six to perform a complete post-mortem examination.

Subs.(2) rep. by 1980 NI 6 art.13 sch.2

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 28
Post-mortem examination without inquest.

28.[(1) Where a coroner is satisfied that a post-mortem examination
should be performed upon the body of a person into whose death he
may conduct an inquest, the coroner may] secure the services of a
registered medical practitioner on the list mentioned in section
twenty-six for the performance of a post-mortem examination of the
body of the deceased, and for the purposes of the examination the
coroner and the medical practitioner whose services have been thus
secured shall have the like powers, authorities and immunities as if
the examination were a post-mortem examination directed by the
coroner at an inquest upon the body of the deceased.

(2) If as a result of such post-mortem examination as aforesaid the
coroner is satisfied that an inquest is unnecessary, he shall send
to the registrar of deaths whose duty it is by law to register
the death a certificate under his hand stating the cause of death
as disclosed by the report of the post-mortem examination ....

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 29
Report on examination.

29.(1) Every registered medical practitioner who performs a
post-mortem examination shall immediately report the result thereof in
writing to the coroner and such report shall not be furnished to
any other person without the permission of the coroner.

(2) A court may order a coroner to produce for the purposes of
proceedings in that court a copy certified by him as correct of
any report furnished to him under sub-section (1), not earlier than
ten years before the date of the order and it shall be the duty
of the coroner to comply with any such order.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 30
Coroner may order analysis.

30. A coroner who considers an analysis of any matter or thing of
or concerning any dead body to be necessary may direct that such
analysis be made by or under the supervision of a registered
medical practitioner on the list mentioned in section twenty-six or
by or under the supervision of the Director of the [Northern
Ireland Forensic Science Laboratory] and it shall be the duty of
such registered medical practitioner or Director (as the case may
be) to submit a report of such analysis to the coroner.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 31
Verdicts.

31.(1) Where all members of the jury at an inquest are agreed they
shall give, in the form prescribed by rules under section
thirty-six, their verdict setting forth, so far as such particulars
have been proved to them, who the deceased person was and how,
when and where he came to his death.

(2) Where all members of the jury at an inquest fail, within such
reasonable time as the coroner may determine, to agree upon a
verdict as aforesaid, the coroner may discharge the jury and
instruct the district inspector of the district where the body is
found or in his absence a head constable acting for him to summon
another jury, and thereupon the inquest shall proceed in all
respects as if the proceedings which terminated in the disagreement
had not taken place (save that none of the former jurors shall be
eligible to serve on it).

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 32
Power of coroner to arrange for removal of body out of his
jurisdiction.

32.(1) If it appears to a coroner that an inquest ought to be
held on a body lying within his district but that it is expedient
to allow or necessary to order the body to be removed into the
district of another coroner, he may with the consent of that
coroner, instead of himself summoning a jury or holding an inquest
on the body, allow or order the removal of the body to any place
to which that coroner could have allowed or ordered the body to be
removed if it had been found within his district and that coroner
may deal with the body as if it had been found within his
district.

(2) The expenses of any removal ordered by a coroner under this
section shall be defrayed as part of the expenses incurred by him
in the course of his duties and not as part of the expenses of
the coroner by whom the inquest is held.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 33
Inquest on treasure trove.

33. A coroner shall have jurisdiction to inquire into the finding
of treasure trove in his district and the provisions of this Act
(other than provisions relating to post-mortem examinations or to the
removal of bodies to mortuaries or morgues) shall, so far as is
consistent with the tenor thereof, apply to every such inquest.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 34
Powers of attachment, committal, etc.

34. If any person

(a)wilfully insults or acts contumaciously towards a coroner, or any
coroner's officer or any officer of the coroner's court, or any
witness, during his sitting or attendance in court, or in going to
or returning from the court; or

(b)wilfully interrupts the proceedings of a coroner's court or
otherwise misbehaves in court;

Recovery of fines.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 35

35.(1) Every fine imposed by a coroner under this Act may be
recovered by warrant issued by a coroner under his hand which
warrant may be enforced in like manner as if it were a warrant
issued by a court of summary jurisdiction for the payment of a
penal sum adjudged by the court to be payable upon a conviction of
the person named in the warrant.

(2) A court of summary jurisdiction to whom complaint of default in
payment of any fine imposed by this Act is made by any coroner or
by any constable may order that the person by whom such default is
made be imprisoned for such term, not exceeding three months, as
the court may think proper.

(3) A fine imposed by a coroner under this Act shall be deemed to
be a fine within the meaning of section twenty of the
Administration of Justice Act (Northern Ireland), 1954.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 36
Rules and fees.

36.[(1) The Lord Chancellor may by rules

(a)made after consultation with the Treasury, make provision with
respect to the records, accounts and returns which the Lord
Chancellor may require coroners to keep and submit to him and with
respect to information to be supplied by coroners;]

(b)made after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice regulate the
practice and procedure at or in connection with inquests ... and,
in particular (without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
provisions), such rules may contain provisions

(i)as to the procedure at inquests held with a jury;

(ii)as to the procedure at inquests held without a jury;

<(iii)as to the issue by coroners of orders authorising exhumations or burials;

<(iv)for empowering a coroner to alter the date fixed for the holding of any adjourned inquest within the jurisdiction of the coroner;

(v)as to the procedure to be followed where a coroner decides not
to resume an adjourned inquest;

<(vi)as to the notices to be given to jurymen or witnesses where the date fixed for an adjourned inquest is altered or where a coroner decides not to resume an adjourned inquest; and

<(vii)for prescribing forms of verdicts for use at inquests.

[(2) The Lord Chancellor may with the consent of the Minister for
the Civil Service determine

(a)the salaries or fees and superannuation to be paid to coroners
...;

Para.(b) rep. by 1980 NI 6 art.13 sch.2

(c)the allowances payable to witnesses under this Act.]

S.37 rep. by 1975 c.25 s.5(2) sch.3 Pt.II. S.38 rep. by SLR 1973

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 39
1880 c.13

39. Subs.(1) rep. by 1967 c.18 (NI) s.15(2) sch.2 Pt.I

(2) Nothing in this Act shall affect

(a)the power of a coroner under section seventeen of the Births and
Deaths Registration Act, (Ireland), 1880, to authorise a body to be
buried before registry of the death;

(b)the operation of [section one hundred and one of the Mines Act
(Northern Ireland) 1969], section twelve of the Quarries Act
(Northern Ireland), 1927, section seventy-one of the Factories Act
(Northern Ireland), 1938, section thirty-nine of the Prison Act
(Northern Ireland), 1953, or section seven of the Visiting Forces
Act, 1952.

(3) This Act shall, in its application to inquests on the body of
any offender on whom judgment of death is executed, have effect
subject to section five of the Capital Punishment Amendment Act,
1868.

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 40
Short title.

40. In this Act

Definition rep. by 1978 c.23 s.122(2) sch.7 Pt.II

"constable" means any officer or member of the Royal Ulster
Constabulary;

"coroner" includes a deputy coroner;

Definitions rep. by 1978 c.23 s.122(2) sch.7 Pt.II

"district inspector" means a district inspector of the Royal Ulster
Constabulary;

Definitions rep. by 1978 c.23 s.122(2) sch.7 Pt.II

CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 - SECT 42

42. This Act may be cited as the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland),
1959.

Schedule rep. by SLR 1973