Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019

General duty to hold inquest

10. (1) Section 17 of the Principal Act is amended by—

(a) the substitution of “unexpectedly and from unknown causes” for “suddenly and from unknown causes”,

(b) the designation of that section (as amended by paragraph (a)) as subsection (1) of that section, and

(c) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), it shall be the duty of a coroner to hold an inquest in relation to the death of a person in the following cases:

(a) the deceased person was, at the time of his or her death or immediately before his or her death, in State custody or detention;

(b) the death of the person is a maternal death or a late maternal death.”.

(2) The amendments of section 17 of the Principal Act effected by subsection (1) shall apply to the duty of a coroner to hold an inquest in relation to the death of a person that occurred before the commencement of this section only if, upon that commencement, the inquiries of the coroner into the circumstances of the death have not been completed and he or she has not decided whether to hold an inquest in relation to the death.