Government publishes bill to overhaul coroners law and introduce automatic maternal death inquests

Justice Minister
Charlie Flanagan

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said the “very important” Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2018 would amend the Coroners Act 1962 to clarify, strengthen and modernise the law on the reporting of deaths to coroners, and their powers to investigate and inquest such deaths.

He also paid tribute to independent socialist TD Clare Daly who introduced a private member’s bill on the issue of maternal deaths three years ago.

The new 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 minister said.

Mr Flanagan added: “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.

Mr Flanagan said: “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 Government has also agreed to priority drafting a number of further amendments to the bill to be brought forward at committee stage.

These will include, subject to the advice of Attorney General Séamus Woulfe, 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.