Coroner services would mean fewer inquests
Fewer inquests will be held in Northern Ireland under a major shake-up of the coroners’ service unveiled today.
A two-year review of the system has also recommended holding more hearings in private in a bid to ease the pressure on relatives.
The blueprint includes plans for a top judge to oversee a single coroners’ jurisdiction in Northern Ireland.
The Fundamental Review of Death Certification and Coroner Services was set up by the British government in July 2001 to examine every aspect of the existing system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for investigating violent, unnatural or sudden deaths
Tom Luce, a senior civil servant in England, headed the team which has reported back with a total of 120 recommendations.
His group, which included Deirdre McAuley, a Citizens Advice Bureau adviser in Ballymena, Co Antrim, made a number of visits to Northern Ireland during its research.
The main recommendations for the system in the North focused on the need for a more transparent and consistent approach.
Fewer inquests should be held, and those not raising issues of genuine public interest should be held in private to reduce the distress for bereaved families, the report concluded.
It said: “Public inquests would become mandatory for certain kinds of death, including those apparently at the hands of the law and order services.”
Under the proposals, which will now go out to public consultation, the Northern Ireland Court Service must publish all outstanding cases annually.
“An analysis of the reasons for delay (should be included) and a statement of the measures they intend to take to deal with any continuing backlog and to ensure that bereaved families receive prompter service in future,” the blueprint said.
Specialised coroners officers should also be appointed, along with a senior judge to preside over a unified system.
The review team added: “The officers should be independent of the police and employed by the court service.
“They should support the Statutory Medical Assessor as well as the judicial coroner, and their professional backgrounds and training should be developed as we recommended for England and Wales.”
