coroner
In the Anglo-Saxon legal system, a coroner is an investigative officer who determines the identity of the dead person and the cause of death in a legal process in the event of a dubious or unnatural type of death or in the event of a disaster.
requirements
The coroner is an administrative officer , criminalist or lawyer , but usually not a forensic doctor ("medical examiner"). Even in cases in which a medical professional is a coroner, he acts as an "administrative officer". The requirements for exercising the office vary considerably in the legal systems of the individual states.
history
The office of coroner originated in medieval England , probably as early as the 11th century, shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and was officially introduced in September 1194 to administer the crown's actions ("custos placitorum coronae "). The term “coroner” is derived from this. Back then, they were officials in a county whose primary task was to protect the king's financial interests in criminal proceedings . This was also intended as a check against the local sheriff of a county. In chapter 24 of the Magna Carta of 1215 it was further specified that the coroner was an administrative officer who had to protect the interests of the crown and not an impartial judge .
In legal practice, anyone who came across someone who was believed to have died an unnatural or sudden death was required to immediately make it public, to scream "scream and murder, " which the coroner was obliged to do to open an investigation. This has now become the obligation for everyone to report it to the locally responsible coroner if they become aware of an unusual death.
From England the office was handed down into many legal systems that were created under the influence of English law , particularly in the British colonies. The first instance of such a tradition was the establishment of the coroner's office in Wales in 1284 by the Rhuddlan Statute after Wales was conquered by King Edward I of England in 1282 .
competence
The cases in which a coroner must begin an investigation is assigned to him by local law. Most of these are sudden, unexpected, suspicious or violent deaths and deaths that have not been previously attended to by a doctor. In addition, he issues death certificates and keeps the death register. Other tasks can be assigned to him by local law.
Procedure
The form of the coroner's procedure is based on a court case . However, it is carried out strictly according to the principle of official investigation , so that although witnesses are heard, parties to the litigation do not appear. An investigation by the coroner can - depending on the location and the type of the object of investigation - be carried out by him alone or with the support of a jury of jury members. At the end of the coroner's investigation of a death, there is a written report in which the identity of the deceased, the circumstances of death and the cause of death are established. In addition, he or his jury can also make - legally non-binding - recommendations on how a corresponding death can be avoided in the future. This usually happens after accidents with technical causes, such as traffic accidents. The investigation result determined by the coroner or his jury may be used by the prosecution as the basis for criminal proceedings .
Individual states
Australia
In Australia , the relevant legal matter is regulated at the state level . The qualifications of the public officials, official powers and procedures are designed accordingly.
United Kingdom
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
In England , Wales and Northern Ireland , the coroner is an independent clerk of the court appointed by the government of England or Wales. The justice minister of the central government, the Lord Chancellor , only oversees the legal basis for the work of the coroners, but otherwise has no influence on their work and activities. The procedure before the coroner ( inquiry ) is a judicial procedure in which, for example, the same rules apply as in other court proceedings with regard to the swearing in of witnesses.
In England, a medical or law degree is a prerequisite for being allowed to exercise the office of coroner, which is broadly defined and also recognizes criminology and biomedical degrees. Further requirements are at least five years of professional experience as a lawyer , procurator or doctor . The coroner has a staff of coroner's officers who work for him. In the past, they were often former police officers and today they are increasingly people from the care sector or rescue services .
In addition to the above-mentioned cases in which a coroner has to act, there are also in England and Wales and must always be carried out in these cases and always with a jury: deaths that occur in facilities under the responsibility of the state, for example with prisoners in custody of the police or in prisons . In all other cases, the coroner himself decides whether the procedure should be carried out with or without a jury. The jury may have six jurors .
The coroner first determines the identity of a dead person and how, when and where he died. In addition, it determines whether death occurred suddenly, whether the cause is unknown, whether it was violent or unnatural. Based on this, he can order an autopsy and / or a full examination. Historically, the coroner's investigation report could name a suspect , which was then used as a basis for criminal charges. Today this is no longer officially planned, although in practice the report can nonetheless be formulated in such a way that it allows a conclusion to be drawn about a suspect. The coroner's proceedings are postponed until a result is available from the investigating authorities. The coroner's investigation report plays a significant role in civil law proceedings and insurance issues .
The coroner safeguards the interests of the state in those cases where the treasure shelf is exercised. In addition to these regular coroners, the function of various office holders is ex officio . So the Lord Chancellor is a coroner in cases of public uprising .
Scotland
In Scotland , the task of examining a corpse with a questionable or unnatural way of death lies with an agency called Fatal Accident Inquiry . Historically, this task lay with the Procurator fiscal .
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong a private court the coroner there. Before he acts, he brings in principle the report of a coroner's one. The coroner is responsible for all legal issues relating to the handling of corpses , can order a funeral , autopsy or exhumation and instruct the police to investigate a death.
Japan
In Japan , the coroner's authority is entrusted with providing assistance to other investigative authorities in the relevant investigations . The employees are usually detectives with practical experience in the rank of police captain who have studied forensic medicine or forensics at the National Police Academy.
Canada
The legal situation in Canada is inconsistent. Whether the appropriate examination is carried out by a coroner or a forensic doctor depends on the law of the respective province or territory . Coroners are part of the respective security authority. In terms of content, the tasks that are assigned to the coroner or the forensic doctor depending on the regional system have come closer. There are coroners in the provinces and territories of British Columbia , Saskatchewan , Québec , New Brunswick , Northwest Territories , Nunavut, and Yukon .
The chief coroner and his staff (coroner) are appointed by the government of the respective province or territory. The main focus of the coroner's work is always to find out how a corresponding death can be avoided in the future.
New Zealand
In New Zealand , the procedure was reorganized from July 1, 2007. A central authority, the Office of the Chief Coroner, was set up to standardize and coordinate procedures and to provide specialist knowledge centrally. The coroners are now full-time and have legal qualifications. The affected relatives were included in the procedure and the handling of corpses, body parts and tissue samples were regulated anew. The principle of official investigation has been strengthened. The process is primarily designed to identify causes of death, not necessarily to find a culprit.
United States
In the USA , the relevant legal matter is regulated at the level of the 50 states . These have partly delegated this to the individual counties and authorized them to define and regulate the corresponding tasks. The procedure with regard to the qualifications of public officials, official powers and procedures is correspondingly diverse. Coroners are appointed, elected or hold the office ex officio because they hold another corresponding office. Of the 2,342 agencies in the U.S. investigating deaths, 1,590 are coroners (68%). Another 82 of them are responsible for districts with more than 250,000 inhabitants. In some states, the coroner is the one who may arrest the sheriff if necessary . What they all have in common, however, is the central task: to determine the cause, time and type of death. Often they are the body that has to issue a death certificate.
translation to German
Since there is no applicable equivalent for the function of the "coroner" in the German legal system, the translation of the term into German often causes difficulties. A coroner appears again and again in the numerous detective novels translated from English into German . Translations such as “ coroner ” are common, but problematic as they do not do justice to the coroner's range of tasks. The coroner can best be compared to a forensic doctor who is called to a dead body.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b National Academy of Sciences: Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward . 2009, pp. 241-253.
- ^ "Coroner" . Encyclopædia Britannica , 2009. Accessed 10 August 2009.
- ↑ Bernard Knight : crowner - Part 1: The Origins of the Office of Coroner . Britannia , 1999, archived from the original on December 10, 2005 ; accessed on August 30, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Coroner History .
- ↑ Article 20 of the "Articles of Eyre".
- ^ Online Etymology Dictionary . Retrieved May 15, 2012.
- ↑ In many instances, a [coroner is a] necessary substitute: for if the sheriff is interested in a suit, or if he is of affinity with one of the parties to a suit, the coroner must execute and return the process to the courts of justice ( James Wilson : Lectures on Law . Vol. 2, Chap. 7).
- ^ State Coroner's Court of New South Wales . Ministry of Justice of New South Wales , accessed April 5, 2018 .
- ^ Coroner's Court of Western Australia .
- ^ Guide to coroner services and coroner investigations - a short guide . UK Government , February 24, 2014, accessed March 12, 2019 .
- ^ Coroners . Ministry of Justice , archived from the original on December 27, 2008 ; accessed on August 9, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ The Coroner's Court . Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China , August 27, 2018, accessed March 12, 2019 .
- ^ The Coroner System ( Memento November 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
- ^ Coroners Act 2006.
- ^ Coroners . Coronial Services of New Zealand , accessed August 9, 2014 .
- ↑ cf. For example: Inquest - definition - when held - how conducted Montana Legislative Services, accessed April 14, 2018
- ^ Frontline: Post Mortem
- ^ Jenifer Keach: Coroners and Medical Examiners. A Comparison of Options Offered by Both Systems in Wisconsin . 2006.
- ↑ JM Hickman, KA Hughes, KJ Strom and JD Ropero-Miller: Medical Examiners and Coroners' Offices = Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report NCJ216756. Ed .: US Department of Justice. 2004.