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The Coroner's Court  pdf version (333KB)           Information available

 

THE CORONER's COURT

The task of the Coroner's Court is to inquire into the causes and circumstances of certain deaths. As this booklet outlines, the Coroner has extensive powers related to the conduct of affairs relating to such deaths.

 

What are the Coroner's powers?

The Coroner is a judicial officer who has the power to:

  • grant burial orders
  • grant cremation orders
  • grant waivers of autopsy
  • grant autopsy orders
  • grant exhumation orders
  • grant orders to remove dead bodies outside Hong Kong
  • order police investigations of death
  • order inquests to be held
  • approve removal and use of body parts of the dead body
  • issue certificates of fact of death

 

What types of deaths should be reported to the Coroner?

The Coroners Ordinance sets out 20 categories of deaths (see Appendix I) which should be reported to the Coroner. Anyone responsible for reporting deaths to the Coroner (see the list in Appendix II) should do so as soon as they reasonably can after they know of the death.

 

What happens when a reportable death occurs?

The fact that a death is reportable to the Coroner does not necessarily mean that an inquest has to be held, except for certain categories of death. When a reportable death occurs, the body is sent to either a hospital or a public mortuary, where the pathologist:

  • conducts an external examination of the body
  • reports the findings of this examination or the cause of death, if ascertained, to Coroner
  • recommends waiver of autopsy, and seeks a burial or cremation order if the cause of death can be ascertained
  • seeks an autopsy order if the cause of death cannot be ascertained
  • submits a brief description of circumstances, for example the clinical background.

The Coroner considers the pathologist's report and, depending on the case, makes one of the following orders:

  • autopsy
  • waiver of autopsy
  • burial order
  • cremation order.

If the Coroner is uncertain of the cause of death or for other reasons, he will:

  • order an autopsy
  • study the autopsy report from the pathologist
  • consider whether an investigation is needed.

If the pathologist recommends an autopsy, but the deceased's family applies for a waiver, the Coroner sees the family in chambers, and then decides whether to order an autopsy or a waiver.

If the Coroner decides that a reportable death should be investigated, the police carry out the investigation and submit a death investigation report to the Coroner. The Coroner considers this report and decides whether an inquest should be held, calling on expert advice where he so chooses.

The Coroner can issue a warrant of entry and search in respect of any premises and place where a death has occurred.

If the Coroner decides not to hold an inquest, properly interested persons can write to him to request a copy of the death investigation report.

 

Inquests

The Coroner may hold an inquest with a jury of five or without a jury when a person dies

  • suddenly
  • by accident
  • by violence
  • under suspicious circumstances
  • and when the dead body of a person is found in or brought into Hong Kong

An inquest must be held:

  • when a death occurs in official custody, for example in a prison or a detention centre (this inquest must be held with a jury)
  • upon the request of the Secretary for Justice.

The Coroner will usually hold an inquest where a person dies in an industrial accident.

The Coroner may conduct a pre-inquest review to decide how the inquest may best be carried forward promptly and justly. Pre-inquest reviews do not take place in open court, but inquests are held in open court unless the Coroner directs otherwise.

Summonses will be issued to witnesses to attend the inquest to give evidence and to produce documents. Legal representation for a properly interested person is allowed. Properly interested persons may upon payment of fees obtain copies of medical and other technical reports.

The Duty Lawyer Scheme also provides legal representation to persons who are at risk of criminal prosecution as a result of giving incriminating evidence in the inquest.

In complicated cases, the Coroner may request the Secretary for Justice to assist him to conduct the inquest.

 

What happens at the inquest?

At the inquest, the Coroner and the jury should ascertain:

  • the identity of the deceased
  • how, when and where the deceased died
  • the particulars required under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance to be registered concerning the death
  • the conclusion as to the death

The proceedings of the inquest are as follows:

  • the Coroner opens the inquest
  • witnesses are called and examined by the Coroner's Officer or Government counsel, the jury, family members of the deceased, other interested persons and the Coroner
  • the Coroner sums up the case
  • the Coroner or the jury delivers the finding (Typical examples of findings are set out in Appendix III)

By law, the Coroner and jury may not frame a finding in such a way as to determine any question of civil liability. Claims for damages and civil liabilities should be lodged and heard in the civil law courts.

Recommendations may be recorded if they are designed to prevent the recurrence of similar fatalities, for instance in cases of deaths in industrial accidents, to prevent other hazards to life disclosed by evidence at the inquest and to bring deficiencies in a system or method of work to the attention of a person who may have power to take appropriate action.

The Coroner must adjourn an inquest and refer the matter to the Secretary for Justice where it appears that a criminal offence of murder, manslaughter, infanticide or death by dangerous driving may have been committed by any person. An inquest cannot be resumed until the criminal proceedings are finished.

 

Can anyone ask the Coroner to hold an inquest?

Properly interested persons or the Secretary for Justice can apply to the Court of First Instance of the High Court for an inquest to be held into a death including, where an inquest has already been held, a new inquest into that death. The jury who served in the first inquest will also serve as the jury for the re-opened inquest.

 

Certificate of the fact of death

The Coroner may also issue a certificate of the fact of death. This is in effect an interim document certifying the fact of death. The certificate of the fact of death can be used, for example, to assist in the transport of a dead body to another country for burial, in particular where the relevant authorities of that country require official documentation that the deceased did not die from an infectious disease.

 

Performance Pledge

The Coroner's Court will

  • grant a burial order
as soon as possible upon the receipt of an application from the pathologist
  • grant a cremation order
  • grant an exhumation order
  • grant an order to remove dead bodies outside Hong Kong
  • grant a waiver of autopsies
  • grant an autopsy order

  • issue a certificate of fact of death
10 days after receipt of the post-mortem report

  • list an inquest
42 days from the date of the Coroner's decision to hold an inquest

How to contact Coroner's Court?

Business Hours

Registry and Accounts Office

Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
  2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
  • The Coroner's Court and the Registry / Accounts Office will close when tropical cyclone signal No. 8 or a black rainstorm warning is issued.
  • Proceedings will resume and the Registry / Accounts Office will open if such signal or warning is cancelled before 6:00 a.m.
  • They will open at 2:30 p.m. if such signal or warning is cancelled between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
  • They will remain closed for the whole day if such signal or warning is cancelled after 11:00 a.m.
  • If an inquest in which you are involved is affected as the result of a tropical cyclone or rainstorm, please listen to radio and television announcements about court re-opening times or contact the Court by phone.

 

Appendix I - The 20 Categories of Reportable Deaths

  • Death the medical cause of which is uncertain
  • Sudden / unattended death, except where a person has been diagnosed before death with a terminal illness
  • Death caused by an accident or injury
  • Death caused by crime
  • Death caused by an anaesthetic or under the influence of a general anaesthetic or which occurred within 24 hours of the administering of anaesthetic
  • Death caused by a surgical operation or within 48 hours after a surgical operation
  • Death caused by an occupational disease or directly / indirectly connected with present or previous occupation
  • Still birth
  • Maternal death
  • Deaths caused by septicaemia with unknown primary cause
  • Suicide
  • Death in official custody
  • Where death occurred during discharge of duty of an officer having statutory powers of arrest or detention
  • Death in the premises of a Government department any public officer of which has statutory powers of arrest or detention
  • Death of certain mental patients (as defined by law) in a hospital or in a mental hospital
  • Death in a private care home
  • Death caused by homicide
  • Death caused by a drug or poison
  • Death caused by ill-treatment, starvation or neglect
  • Death which occurred outside Hong Kong where the body of the person is brought into Hong Kong.

 

Appendix II - Persons Responsible for Reporting Deaths

Person Responsible for Reporting Death Report made to
Medical practitioners for cases requiring Coroner's consent for organ removal Coroner
Police for death in police custody or premises Coroner
Department heads receiving a statutory notice of reportable death Coroner
Police officers Coroner
Registrar of Births and Deaths Coroner
Any person (except police) exercising official custody duty Coroner via police
Any person in charge of Government department premises Coroner via police
Administrator of a hospital or other care facilities Coroner with a copy to Police

 

Appendix III - Examples of Findings which may be made by the Coroner or the Jury

Finding Example
Natural causes An illness such as cancer or a heart attack
Industrial / occupational disease A disease arising from employment, e.g. asbestosis
Dependence on drugs / non-dependent abuse of drugs An overdose of narcotic drugs or other medication
Want of attention at birth Death as a result of insufficient care being given to a child at birth
Suicide Taking one's own life
Attempted / self-induced abortion Death resulting from an abortion or an attempt to abort a child
Accident Death resulting from an unexpected or untoward event, e.g. a traffic accident or a fall at work
Misadventure Where act that is lawful but that has an unexpected consequence has caused the death
Self-neglect Death from anorexia nervosa
Lawful killing Death as a result of police use of firearms to prevent injury to a person or self defence
Unlawful killing Murder or manslaughter
Stillbirth The death of a foetus prior to birth
Open verdict This finding is made if the evidence is not sufficient for any other finding to be made

 

Appendix IV - Workflow Chart

 

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