§ SIR J. CARMICHAEL (Glasgow, St. Rollox)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate, whether, in cases in which post-mortem examinations are made by direction of the Procurator Fiscal on behalf of the Crown, for the information of the Lord Advocate as Public Prosecutor, persons suspected of having caused the death by criminal or other means, or medical men who have had charge of the case prior to death, are granted facilities for being medically represented at the post-mortem examination ordered by the Crown; and, whether, in such cases, applications on behalf of interested persons for medical representation at the post-mortem are ever refused?
§ *THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR,) Clackmannan and KinrossSuch post-mortem examinations are conducted in accordance with suggestions made by medical men of great eminence a number of years ago; and the practice is, to exclude from the examinations all persons not officially connected with them, unless the consent of Crown Counsel or the authority of a sheriff for the presence of other persons has been obtained. The examinations are generally held under a judicial warrant; and the view adopted and acted upon has been that, unless some special reason connected with public justice exists for the presence of third parties, the warrant should be carried out exclusively by persons acting under public responsibility. Applications to be allowed to be represented have been granted where made on behalf of a person suspected of having caused the death, or otherwise closely connected with the matter of inquiry; but they have been refused where some such quality of interest did not exist.
§ SIR J. CARMICHAELI beg to ask the Lord Advocate, whether, in cases of post-mortem examinations made by direction of the Procurator Fiscal on behalf of the Crown, for the information of the Lord Advocate as Public Pro- 832 secutor, such examinations are frequently conducted by only one official medical man, notwithstanding the circumstances that in the event of the case coming to trial the evidence of two medical men is necessary to prove the report?
§ MR. J. B. BALFOURExperience has proved that there are many cases in which it is quite unnecessary that two medical men should conduct the postmortem examination.