Coroners and Justice Bill

The starting point must surely be that it is entirely reasonable for the coroner to suspend his or her investigation—although matters relating to the post-mortem and the release of the body of the deceased person to families may still be dealt with during any suspension—if a person is charged with a homicide offence or a service equivalent, or with an offence connected to the death in some other way. If this were not the case, it is possible that the coroner’s investigation—which will be based largely on the same reports and statements—could, at best, duplicate a criminal inquiry and, at worst, hamper or prolong it. We have made provision for the prosecuting authority to indicate to the coroner that it has no objection to the coroner continuing to investigate, and we have also enabled the coroner to continue if there are exceptional reasons for doing so. Coroners are sensitive to the need to give primacy to any criminal proceedings in relation to a death and would rarely continue with their investigation where a prosecution was in prospect or underway. So we maintain that the "exceptional" threshold for the coroner to continue an investigation in these circumstances is entirely appropriate, considering that the relevant offence is a homicide offence, a service equivalent, or an offence related to the death in some other way, and therefore, very serious proceedings are being examined. I hope that the noble Baroness will accept the consideration the Government have given to this issue and why we have expressed it in the terms that we have.