Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an important and substantive amendment which inserts into the Bill a new power for a coroner to seek directions from the High Court on any doubtful or difficult point of law arising in the exercise of his or her functions. While coroners normally determine questions of fact, difficult questions of law do arise occasionally on a range of issues relating to the exercise of their functions. Such issues might, for example, include the procedural rights of interested parties at inquest or the interpretation of the European Convention of Human Rights on a new or difficult issue. Currently, coroners have no legal avenue to seek direction from the courts on such points of law. The main avenue of clarification is judicial review proceedings, which have to be taken by an interested party rather than by the coroner.

For these reasons, coroners strongly support and have long sought a case-stated facility. The text used here is similar to the consultative case-stated procedure used in section 4A of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) (Amendment) Act 1997, as inserted by section 3 of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) (Amendment) Act 2004, and in the Coroners Bill 2007. It is a special provision which is to be used at the discretion of the coroner. Interested parties at inquest will continue to be entitled to seek judicial review if, in their view, a coroner has made a wrong decision as a matter of law. The case-stated provision has a different purpose. It is there to enable coroners to seek guidance from the High Court on a difficult or unexplored point of law relating to the exercise of their functions. I do not expect that it will need to be used frequently, but I do expect that it will be used judiciously by coroners from time to time. As such, it will greatly assist in clarifying and developing our coronial law. I ask Senators to support this important amendment.