Coroner's Court of New South Wales | |
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![]() The façade of the former NSW State Coroner's Court in Glebe, NSW | |
Established | 1988 |
Location | 1A Main Avenue Lidcombe |
Coordinates | 33°52′52″S151°11′18″E / 33.8811282°S 151.1883183°E Coordinates: 33°52′52″S151°11′18″E / 33.8811282°S 151.1883183°E |
Composition method | Vice-regal appointment upon Premier's nomination, following advice of the Attorney General and Cabinet |
Authorized by | Parliament of New South Wales via the Coroners Act 2009 (NSW) |
Appeals to | Supreme Court of New South Wales |
Judge term length | mandatory retirement by age of 72 |
Website | coroners.justice.nsw.gov.au |
New South Wales State Coroner | |
Currently | Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan |
Since | 18 December 2018 |
The Coroner's Court of New South Wales is the court in the Australian state of New South Wales where legal proceedings, in the form of an inquest or inquiry, are held and presided over by the State Coroner of New South Wales (or NSW State Coroner), a Deputy State Coroner of New South Wales, or another coroner of the state of New South Wales.
Coroners must be magistrates in the state and sit in branches of the Local Court of New South Wales. [1] They hold jurisdiction over the remains of a person and have the power to make findings in respect of the cause of death of a person or the cause of any fire in New South Wales.
Generally, there are no appeals from the decision(s) of a coroner; there is, however, provision for the Supreme Court of New South Wales to order a fresh inquest or inquiry or to grant prerogative relief in respect of the proceedings.
The office of coroner in New South Wales derives from the legal framework inherited from the historical origins of the state and, ultimately, the United Kingdom. Admiral Arthur Phillip, the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales, was authorised by the British monarch to appoint such officials as were necessary for the administration of justice in the colony. This authority came to Phillip through what is commonly called the "second commission". One of the offices that he could appoint was that of coroner.
In the early days of the colony, the role of the coroner was often performed by a justice of the peace. The first inquiry in the nature of a coronial inquest was conducted on 14 December 1788 and was presided over by Augustus Alt, one of the first justices of the peace appointed by Phillip. [2]
The office of the State Coroner of New South Wales was established in 1988, [3] prior to which the coronial system comprised a City Coroner, a Westmead Coroner (which was preceded by Parramatta, Penrith, and Campbelltown Coroners), and coroners in most New South Wales country towns. [4] After the discovery of asbestos in the file storage area of the Westmead Coroner's Court in 2007, the Westmead Coroner's Court was indefinitely closed. [5] An investigation was conducted following its closure. In 2008, the adjacent Westmead Morgue was closed, largely due to budgetary and sustainability concerns. [6] [7]
The City (or State) Coroner's Court, Lidcombe is located at the Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court complex at 1A Main Avenue, Lidcombe 2141. [8] [9]
The Coroner's Court is in the state stream of the Australian court hierarchy, and its operation is defined by state legislation. Per the Coroners Act 2009 (NSW), the State Coroner and Deputy State Coroners are appointed to their office by the Governor of New South Wales and must be magistrates in New South Wales. The Governor may also appoint Coroners and Assistant Coroners, generally, from amongst registrars employed in the New South Wales court system so that coronial services are available in regional areas of New South Wales.
The State Coroner has the function: [10]
Where a serious criminal offence has been disclosed during the course of an inquest or an inquiry, a coroner may terminate the proceedings and must refer that matter to a Director of Public Prosecutions (State or Commonwealth) for consideration of the initiation, or institution, of criminal proceedings. [11]
All magistrates in New South Wales are ex officio coroners by virtue of their appointment as magistrates.
Prior to the creation of the office of the State Coroner in 1988, coronial inquests were conducted by the Sydney City Coroner for greater metropolitan Sydney, and across New South Wales by magistrates in the Local Court as ex-officio coroners. The original Coroner's Court building was in George Street North, in The Rocks, Sydney. The Coroner's Court building and morgue moved to the current location at Glebe in the early 1970s.
Title | Name | Term began | Term ended | Time in office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coroner for Sydney | George Milner Slade | 19 October 1821 | |||
Charles Thomas Smeathman | January 1830 | 16 January 1835 | [12] | ||
John Ryan Brenan | 3 February 1835 | 1856 | [13] [14] | ||
John Skottowe Parker | 28 May 1856 | 10 July 1866 | [14] [15] | ||
Henry Shiell | 4 August 1866 | 30 January 1889 | [16] [17] | ||
John Chadwick Woore | 31 January 1889 | 30 November 1903 | [17] [18] | ||
A. N. (Arthur Nelson) Barnett | 23 February 1904 | 31 July 1907 | [19] [20] | ||
J. L. King | 1 August 1907 | [20] | |||
Stephen Murphy | 1 January 1909 | [21] | |||
Henry Storry Hawkins | 20 November 1911 | 31 October 1919 | [22] [23] | ||
John Jamieson | 1 November 1919 | 17 June 1925 | [23] [24] | ||
Harry Ferdinand William Fletcher | 18 June 1925 | 6 May 1928 | [24] [25] | ||
Edwin Alfred May | 7 May 1928 | 7 August 1932 | [25] [26] | ||
Herbert Howell Farrington | 8 August 1932 | 4 January 1935 | [26] [27] | ||
Edward Thomas Oram | 7 January 1935 | 22 August 1943 | [28] [29] | ||
John Alexander Harris | 23 August 1943 | 7 January 1945 | [29] [30] | ||
Reginald Gordon Cookson | 8 January 1945 | 1 January 1946 | [30] [31] | ||
Roy Mitchell Stewart | 2 January 1946 | 1 June 1947 | [31] [32] | ||
James Byrne | 2 June 1947 | [32] | |||
State Coroner | Kevin Waller AM | 1988 | 1992 | 3–4 years | |
Greg Glass | 1992 | 1995 | 2–3 years | ||
Derrick Hand | 1995 | 2000 | 4–5 years | [33] | |
John Abernethy | 2000 | 2007 | 6–7 years | ||
Mary Jerram | 2007 | 2013 | 5–6 years | ||
Michael Barnes | 6 January 2014 | 30 November 2017 | 3 years, 328 days | ||
Leslie Mabbutt | 1 April 2018 | 14 December 2018 | 257 days | ||
Teresa O'Sullivan | (acting) 15 December 2018 | 14 July 2019 | 211 days | [35] | |
15 July 2019 | current | 1 year, 147 days |
A coroner is a government official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jurisdiction.
This is a list of local government areas (LGAs) in New South Wales, sorted by region. As of December 2020 there were 128 local government areas in New South Wales, listed below in alphabetical order by region. There is also the Unincorporated Far West Region which is not part of any local government area, in the sparsely inhabited Far West, and Lord Howe Island, which is also unincorporated but self-governed by the Lord Howe Island Board.
The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing occurred on 13 February 1978, when a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. At the time the hotel was the site of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), a regional offshoot of the biennial meetings of the heads of government from across the Commonwealth of Nations.
The 2004 Redfern riots took place on the evening of Saturday 14 February 2004, in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales, and were sparked by the death of Thomas Hickey, also known as TJ Hickey.
Courthouses in New South Wales were designed by the Colonial Architect, later known as the Government Architect of New South Wales, Australia.
The Industrial Court of New South Wales was a court within the Australian court hierarchy that exercised the judicial functions of the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales within the Australian state of New South Wales. The Commission has exclusive jurisdiction in respect of industrial disputes in that state.
The Coroner's Court of Western Australia is a court which has exclusive jurisdiction over the remains of a person and the power to make findings in respect of the cause of death of a person in Western Australia.
The name of "Coroners Court" is the generic name given to proceedings in which a Coroner holds an inquest in Victoria.
The Coroners Court of Tasmania is the generic name given to the Coronial Division of the Magistrates Court of Tasmania. It is a court which has exclusive jurisdiction over the remains of a person and the power to make findings in respect of the cause of death of a person, a fire or an explosion in Tasmania.
The Coroner's Court of South Australia is a court which has exclusive jurisdiction over the remains of a person and the power to make findings in respect of the cause of death of a person or fire in South Australia, a state of Australia.
The Coroner's Court of the Australian Capital Territory is a court which has exclusive jurisdiction over the remains of a person and the power to make findings in respect of the cause of death of a person or fire in Australian Capital Territory.
The title of Coroners Court is the name given to proceedings in which a coroner holds an inquest or an inquiry in the Northern Territory.
The Sydney Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney killed six children and one adult on 9 June 1979. It destroyed the amusement park's ghost train. Inadequate fire-fighting measures and low staffing caused the fire to completely destroy the ride, which was first constructed in 1931, and had been transported from Glenelg, South Australia to Milsons Point, New South Wales during 1934 and 1935.
Michael Capel, 43, a schizophrenia sufferer, died on 10 October 2008, from multiple gunshot wounds during a confrontation with police at Belmont, near Newcastle, New South Wales. The shooting followed reports that Capel had assaulted his mother and a local worker. Apparently Capel had come off his medication and become violent. A coronial inquest into Capel's death heard that he had "opened the door to police while holding a large knife and began walking towards officers". Following the death, a coroner has recommended special training for frontline police dealing with the mentally ill.
John Birley Abernethy is a former State Coroner of New South Wales.
Patricia Bergin is a former judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
Lynette Joy Dawson was an Australian missing person who disappeared on 9 January 1982, leaving two daughters and her husband, Chris Dawson. Her whereabouts are unknown, but two coronial inquests have found that she had been murdered. In December 2018, Chris Dawson was charged with her murder and, in June 2019, pleaded not guilty.
The Old Coroner's Court, The Rocks are heritage-listed shops and the site of the former The Rocks Visitors Centre, a former morgue, the former Coroner's Court of New South Wales and offices located at 102-104 George Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Walter Liberty Vernon and built from 1906 to 1908. It is also known as Coroner's Court (former) - Shops & offices, Coroners Court / City Morgue and shops and offices. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.