Section 2: Request for other coroner to conduct investigation
68.This section gives the senior coroner the power to transfer responsibility for the investigation of a death to another coroner, where that coroner agrees. It is broadly similar to section 14 of the 1988 Act, which allowed a coroner in one district to ask a coroner of another district to assume jurisdiction to hold an inquest into the death.
69.Under subsection (2), a senior coroner who agrees to conduct an investigation on behalf of another coroner must carry out that investigation as soon as possible. No other coroner can conduct the investigation. The coroner who agrees to deal with the investigation will have powers to move the body, in order to ensure a more efficient inquiry. We anticipate that how costs will be apportioned in transferred cases will be dealt with in regulations under section 43.
70.This section does not apply where the Chief Coroner directs another coroner to conduct an investigation under section 3.
71.Examples of cases where the coroner may wish to ask another coroner to conduct the investigation include cases where the bereaved relatives and/or most of the witnesses in the case live in the other coroner’s area; and cases where there is a major incident across more than one coroner area, and the Government believes that it is more efficient for only one coroner to lead the investigation and to be seen as the point of contact for bereaved people.
