Coroners Act 2006

Last updated

The Coroners Act 2006 is an act of the Parliament of New Zealand which completely reformed the coronial services, introduced the office of Chief Coroner and clarified matters relating to remuneration and working conditions of coroners.

Contents

Coroner's inquests in New Zealand are inquisitorial rather than adversarial, fact-finding exercises rather than guilt-apportioning methods. [1]

The Act was prompted by a 2000 New Zealand Law Commission report which recommended a number of changes.

See also

Related Research Articles

The adversarial system or adversary system or accusatorial system or accusatory system is a legal system used in the common law countries where two advocates represent their parties' case or position before an impartial person or group of people, usually a judge or jury, who attempt to determine the truth and pass judgment accordingly. It is in contrast to the inquisitorial system used in some civil law systems where a judge investigates the case.

Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or incarcerated, and results in the conviction or acquittal of the defendant. Criminal procedure can be either in form of inquisitorial or adversarial criminal procedure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coroner</span> Government official who confirms and certifies the death of an individual

A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jurisdiction.

An inquisitorial system is a legal system in which the court, or a part of the court, is actively involved in investigating the facts of the case. This is distinct from an adversarial system, in which the role of the court is primarily that of an impartial referee between the prosecution and the defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discovery (law)</span> Pretrial procedure in common law countries for obtaining evidence

Discovery, in the law of common law jurisdictions, is a phase of pretrial procedure in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from other parties by means of methods of discovery such as interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admissions and depositions. Discovery can be obtained from nonparties using subpoenas. When a discovery request is objected to, the requesting party may seek the assistance of the court by filing a motion to compel discovery. Conversely, a party or nonparty resisting discovery can seek the assistance of the court by filing a motion for a protective order.

Battered woman syndrome (BWS) is a pattern of signs and symptoms displayed by a woman who has suffered persistent intimate partner violence—psychological, physical, or sexual—from her male partner. It is classified in the ICD-9 as battered person syndrome, but is not in the DSM-5. It may be diagnosed as a subcategory of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Victims may exhibit a range of behaviors, including self-isolation, suicidal thoughts, and substance abuse, and signs of physical injury or illness, such as bruises, broken bones, or chronic fatigue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatal accident inquiry</span> United Kingdom legislation

A fatal accident inquiry is a Scottish judicial process which investigates and determines the circumstances of some deaths occurring in Scotland. Until 2009, they did not apply to any deaths occurring in other jurisdictions, when the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 extended the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 to service personnel at the discretion of the Chief Coroner or the Secretary of State. The equivalent process in England and Wales is an inquest. A major review of the fatal accident inquiries was undertaken by Lord Cullen of Whitekirk, at the request of the Scottish Government, which resulted in the passing of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016.

Bulgarian law is a largely civil law system, based on epitomes in French law and German law. It retains increasingly fewer elements of Soviet law. This makes the state's approach to criminal law inquisitorial rather than adversarial, and is generally characterised by an insistence on formality and rationality.

A system for trial by jury was first introduced in 1923 under Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō's administration. Although the system generated relatively high acquittal rates, it was rarely used, in part because it required defendants to give up their rights to appeal the factual determinations made. The system lapsed by the end of World War II. In 2009, as a part of a larger judicial reform project, laws came into force to introduce citizen participation in certain criminal trials by introducing lay judges. Lay judges comprise the majority of the judicial panel. They do not form a jury separate from the judges, as in a common law system, but participate in the trial as inquisitorial judges next to professional judges in accordance with the civil law legal tradition – similar to the French cour d'assises – who actively analyze and investigate evidence presented by the defense and prosecution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coroner's Court of New South Wales</span>

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, a Deputy State Coroner of New South Wales, or another coroner of the state of New South Wales.

The 2004 Palm Island death in custody incident relates to the death of an Aboriginal resident of Palm Island, Cameron Doomadgee on Friday, 19 November 2004 in a police cell. The death of Mulrunji led to civic disturbances on the island and a legal, political and media sensation that continued for fourteen years.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coroner's Court of South Australia</span>

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 legal system of Venezuela belongs to the Continental Law tradition. Venezuela was the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, doing so in 1863.

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission was established in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1967 to administer the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission is the first commission in Canada to engage a restorative dispute resolution process.

Ian Freckelton is an Australian barrister, judge, international academic, and high-profile legal scholar and jurist. He is known for his extensive writing and speaking in more than 30 countries on issues related to health law, expert evidence, criminal law, tort law, therapeutic jurisprudence and research integrity. Freckelton is a member of the Victorian Bar Association, the Tasmanian Bar Association, and the Northern Territory Bar Association in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whyalla Airlines Flight 904</span> 2000 aviation accident

Whyalla Airlines Flight 904 was a scheduled commuter flight, operated by a Piper PA-31 Navajo which crashed while attempting to ditch in the Spencer Gulf, South Australia after suffering failures of both engines on the evening of 31 May 2000. All 8 people on board the aircraft were killed as a result of the accident. The findings of a subsequent investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau highlighting the airline's operating procedures as a key factor leading to the accident were later overturned after they were contradicted by evidence presented at a coronial inquiry into the deaths of those on board the flight. The safety implications arising from the accident led to a recall by engine manufacturer Textron Lycoming which saw close to 1000 aircraft grounded worldwide while defects were rectified at an estimated cost of $A66 million. Australia's aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority also mandated lifejackets be carried on all aircraft operating over water after the crash.

The National Coronial Information System (NCIS) is a national database of coronial information on every death reported by a Coroner in Australia from July 2000 (Queensland from July 2001) and New Zealand from July 2007. It assists coroners, their staff, public sector agencies, researchers and other agencies in obtaining coronial data to inform death and injury prevention activities.

References

  1. MacLean, Neil (2012). "An Inquisitorial Cuckoo in an Adversarial Nest: Five Years of Coronial Reform in New Zealand". Hearsay. Retrieved 23 September 2013.