Coroners and Justice Bill

Clause 21: Investigations concerning treasure Debate on whether Clause 21 should stand part of the Bill. I oppose Clause 21 standing part of the Bill. The investigation of treasure finds is a small but historic part of a coroner’s responsibilities, dating back to the 13th century. It is carried out on behalf of our national museums, those enthusiasts who spend their weekends scouring the countryside with their metal detectors, and very occasionally those people who have been lucky enough to find objects of value when digging in their own garden. Many areas in England and Wales are particularly rich in treasure finds, from Roman coins to Saxon hoards, and from medieval jewellery to civil war weaponry. Local knowledge of the types of finds is invaluable, and relationships have been established and nurtured over the years between local museums and finds liaison officers. The government amendments that I intend to move in due course introduce a national coroner for treasure for England and Wales, which will help to improve the efficiency of the treasure investigation system. These amendments largely replicate the provisions for a coroner for treasure that were contained in the draft Coroners Bill, published in 2006. Following the consultation on those draft clauses and further reflection we have made a number of changes to the original proposals, and I hope the House will agree that the package set out here will achieve the best results for both treasure finders and the coroner system as a whole. To put the amendments in context, in 2008 there were 610 treasure cases reported to local coroners: 610 investigations where the local coroner could have been investigating deaths. As my noble friend Lord Howarth of Newport and the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, indicated at Second Reading, there have been areas around England and Wales where treasure cases have taken a particularly long time to resolve, falling outside the target time of 12 months to complete all aspects of the process in the Treasure Act 1996 code of practice. Establishing a coroner for treasure will help to expedite treasure cases but also enable local coroners to concentrate on their core responsibility for the investigation of deaths. The coroner for treasure, with his or her assistants, will be able to investigate each treasure case more expeditiously than a local coroner can, which will reduce the time taken for each investigation as well as improve the confidence that finders and landowners have in the system. The new clauses introduce the distinction between investigations and inquests, so that treasure investigations have a similar structure to the reformed death investigations. It will still be possible for the coroner for treasure to summon a jury for a treasure inquest, although the starting position will be that one is not required, as I understand is almost always the case at present. The new clause to be inserted by Amendment 84 provides for an exception on the duty of the coroner for treasure to investigate an item under the Treasure Act. This would be where the Crown, or the franchisee, if appropriate, did not want the item, even if it were found to be treasure or treasure trove. At present, although an item may be disclaimed at any time, there is no power for a coroner not to proceed with an inquest. Since the coroner will return the item to the person who found it, it effectively means that an investigation has been wasted. In the reformed system, the Secretary of State would need to certify to the coroner for treasure that the item is disclaimed, and the coroner will then return the item in accordance with the treasure code of practice. The new clause inserted by Amendment 85 allows the code of practice made under the Treasure Act to cover situations where items are disclaimed, and closes the loophole where the coroner for treasure—the local coroner under the current scheme—is potentially liable to civil claims, even if he or she has acted in accordance with the code. We believe that government Amendments 84 and 85 cover similar ground to Amendment 73 in this group in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Brooke of Stoke Mandeville. In view of this, I hope that the noble Lord will be satisfied with the outcome and will agree to withdraw his amendment. One of the reforms in the draft Coroners Bill, published in 2006, was that there would be a duty to deliver an object to the coroner for treasure if a person was in possession of it. This was to prevent cases where a proportion of the find was kept for the finder’s own gain; failure to deliver the object would have been an offence under the Treasure Act. Our Amendments 86, 88 and 89 tackle this issue in another way. The coroner for treasure is given the power to order a person to give evidence at an inquest, provide a written statement, produce documents, and produce other items for inspection, examination or testing. This will include not only the item being investigated but any supporting evidence. This will ensure that the investigation is as thorough as possible. Finally, Amendment 212 extends the time limit for prosecutions under the Treasure Act. I am aware that there have been difficulties with the usual six-month time limit, given the time taken to complete treasure investigations. I believe that the reforms will speed up the investigation process, but I am persuaded that there is a need for the time limit to be extended, by way of a certificate from the prosecutor, to a maximum of three years. This will allow any determinations of whether the item is treasure to take place where necessary. Other government amendments in this group make provision for, inter alia, the appointment of the coroner for treasure and assistant coroners for treasure, for their training and inspection and for appeals against their decisions. I hope that noble Lords who are involved in heritage issues—I see that a number of them are present—and interested in treasure will agree that this package of reforms is comprehensive and addresses the issues which currently affect the system. The reforms will encourage better reporting of finds, but more importantly they will help treasure investigations to be concluded more expeditiously, to the benefit of the finder, the landowner, and not least the general public, who may see the item on display in a museum. When the Question that Clause 21 stand part is put, I shall invite the Committee to vote against it.