Coroners and Justice Bill

I would like to speak first on this, because although there are fundamental issues involved in this amendment, there are also some practical issues. The coroners were not consulted. They would have been pleased to have had the opportunity to discuss the amendment with the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, but they were not given that opportunity. I have from the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales a number of very practical objections, not of a fundamental nature, but of a nature that would make it very difficult for coroners to undertake this particular task—if indeed the House thinks that it is appropriate for it to be undertaken by anyone. First, the coroners make the point that they are concerned with post-mortem investigations, not ante-mortem investigations. Their jurisdiction is derived from the presence of a dead body. The amendment would introduce an entirely new and, they consider, alien duty for coroners to provide an investigation before death. It would make the coroners potentially witnesses to facts, which is not their position as judicial officers. Unlike in Northern Ireland, there is no single national coroner service, nor under this Bill will there be, because each coroner will maintain his own separate records and would not have access to any national central register or database. Every "cross-jurisdictional border" inquiry, as it is known, generates its own series of letters and e-mails, so if the proposals were implemented there would have to be some arrangement for information to be provided across these borders. It is thought that there would be a significant number of coroners who would, as a matter of personal conscience, have objections and refuse to carry through this function. There would therefore have to be a conscience clause, permitting individual coroners or their officers to refuse to participate in the ante-mortem inquiry and certification process. The other point, which is of some importance to the Government and the main opposition parties, is that there would be very serious cost and other resource implications in an already overstretched and underfunded service. I hope that noble Lords will take those very practical points into account. In particular, if the noble Lord is going to propose that a particular service should take on a totally new duty, the very least courtesy, I suggest, is to ask it first.