The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan, has today published the Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2018, which will significantly clarify, strengthen and modernise the law on the reporting of deaths to coroners, and their powers to investigate and inquest such deaths.
The Minister said:
This is a very important Bill, which has been a priority for me personally and for the Government. It will amend the existing legislation, the Coroners Act 1962, to significantly strengthen and modernise the powers available to coroners in the reporting, investigation and inquest of deaths.
In particular, the Bill will allow a wider scope for inquiry where necessary at inquests, clarifying that they are not limited to establishing the medical cause of death, and seek to establish the circumstances in which the death occurred. The public importance of effective, transparent, and independent investigation in such cases is obvious. This, and other changes made by the Bill, will also enhance our compliance with our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
More particularly, the Bill addresses a key problem in a number of high-profile cases which have caused great public unease – that some maternal deaths and perinatal deaths occurring in hospitals, which should have been reported to coroners because they raised issues of medical error and were ‘unnatural deaths’ under the Coroners Act 1962 – were not so reported. Bereaved families, and in some instances even coroners, experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining basic information which should have been provided to them.
The Bill will require mandatory reporting to a coroner and inquest in all cases of maternal death. It will also require mandatory reporting to a coroner of all stillbirths, intrapartum deaths and perinatal deaths. Such reporting is already established as good practice.
The Minister added:
These changes to the law will ensure clarity for responsible persons, including hospital authorities, and will support the development of transparent and accountable oversight for checking and investigating certain types of death. Most importantly, they will support timely and transparent provision of information by health and other authorities to bereaved families.
The Minister added that Government has also agreed to priority drafting of a number of specified further amendments, which he intends to bring forward at Committee Stage. These will include, subject to the advice of the Attorney General, amendments:
- to provide a statutory basis for a coroner to inquire into a stillbirth where there is cause for concern, for example, arising from matters raised by the bereaved parents,
- to allow a coroner to seek directions from the High Court on a point of law in relation to the performance of their functions,
- providing for the Minister to make regulations on the proper storage and disposal of any material removed for the purposes of a post mortem examination, including return to a family member for disposal where requested and appropriate, and
- providing a power for the coroner to direct a hospital or other health institution to make medical records of the deceased person available, for the purposes of a post mortem examination.
I want to acknowledge the contribution of Deputy Clare Daly, through her earlier Private Members Bill on the issue of maternal deaths. My Bill incorporates all the amendments sought by Deputy Daly on this issue, and also addresses the issue of perinatal deaths and other important reforms to coronial law.
The Minister concluded
It is my firm intention to move the Bill as early as possible in the new parliamentary session, so that, with the co-operation of all sides, we can facilitate its swift passage through the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The Bill is available here: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2018/94/