Coroners Court Visit

The Coroner for West Yorkshire, Roger Whitaker, was surprised by the popularity of the visit to discover more about his work.

He had expected to sit around a table with a small number of interested students. However in October 2004 over 60 of them packed the Coroners Court, while he sat as if presiding over the courtroom.

"It is intriguing to welcome so many of you. Very few law students and even fewer lawyers know much about what goes on in Coroners Courts."

The Coroner's Role

"Coroner is a very ancient office, being the second oldest judicial role after that of Sheriff. The finite beginning in written law is 1194 in the Articles of Eyre which stated: 'In every county of the King's realm shall be elected three knights and one clerk, to keep the pleas of the Crown.' When these custodians of the peace first started they were income generating and extracted money from felons."

We were shown the ceremonial garb although this is rarely worn. "I have only sat in the ceremonial robes once when investigating the death of a colleague.

The Coroner is appointed by the local authority - in my case Bradford Met - who support the work and provide a budget. But I am in charge of 2 offices and 3 courts with no restriction or restraint. I am totally independent as I may have to criticise the local authority. There are also new developments in the pipeline following the Shipman enquiry."

The Nature of Enquiry

"The form of enquiry is very different to the adversarial nature of that in other courts. There are no parties but there are people with interests. This is not the game of law. This is an enquiry designed to get at the TRUTH, so is not bound by the strict rules of evidence.

There is no appeal from the judgement of the Coroner.

The Coroner deals with unnatural and suspicious deaths and asks 4 questions."

4 Questions:

The verdict must consider and report the answers to the following 4 questions:

Identity

Usually this is proved by relatives, but in some cases this is not possible. For instance I have just had the case of a man burned beyond recognition. Other means of identification such as dentistry, distinguishing marks, other matter found on the body, for instance jewellery or operation sites, can also be employed.

Where ...

the death occurred.Frequently people are pronounced dead on arrival at hospital - the Coroner must decide where death happened.

When ...

death occurred.
Frequently this is impossible. It is nothing like Silent Witness or other TV portrayals. There are lots of factors which militate against discovering exact times, for instance in a current case a body was found four months later in a cold place with its own micro climate - it is difficult to reconstruct this situation. Time is particularly important in suspicious circumstances in relation to alibis.

How...

or by what means, did death occur?
The Coroner is precluded by law from dealing with blame and may not express opinion on anything other than the answer to the 4 questions. Until 1997 the coroner could indict people for murder. I have seen people in court on one or 2 occasions who I know have committed murder but who will not go to prosecution. A verdict of unlawful killing will be passed.