HC Deb 22 October 1952 vol 505 cc1175-7
Mr. Paget

I beg to move, in page 6, line 30, to leave out from "it," to the end of line 35, and to insert: until the proceedings in the court of that country have been concluded or discontinued. This Amendment deals with adjourned inquests, and the object of it is to bring the law relating to a trial in foreign courts into line with what it is here, that is to say, that when an inquest is adjourned it shall be adjourned until the proceedings in the court of the visiting force have been concluded or discontinued.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

I am sorry that I cannot accept this Amendment. Subsection (3), which provides that when a coroner adjourns an inquest he may not resume it without the direction of the Secretary of State, serves two purposes.

In the first place it relates to subsection (1). A coroner may have begun to hold an inquest on the death of a person who had a relevant association with a visiting force before it is discovered that he is such a person. In that event he must adjourn the inquest, and the decision whether the coroner should resume the inquest amounts to the same as that whether he should hold an inquest, and it should be reserved to the Secretary of State in the same way. The Amendment which the hon. and learned Gentleman has moved would seem to me to overlook subsection (1) altogether, and remove this protection.

In the second place, this subsection relates to adjournments under subsection (2). I do not know if the hon. and learned Gentleman has pursued this point, but if he has not I should be grateful if he would look at it. He will then see the similarity between subsection (2) and Section 20 of the Coroners (Amendment) Act, 1926. That provision contains two requirements which are essential to its proper operation. The first is that the criminal court should report the result of the proceedings to the coroner, and the second that the coroner's jury, if the inquest is resumed, should not find a verdict which is inconsistent with that of the criminal court.

As the hon. and learned Gentleman appreciates, we cannot oblige foreign courts to report the results of proceedings to a coroner. That is something which cannot be done in one of our own municipal statutes. We think that the most satisfactory way of ensuring that inquests are not needlessly resumed and inconsistent verdicts are not given is by reserving to the Secretary of State the power to direct a resumption of the inquest if the circumstances make it necessary. If the hon. and learned Gentleman refreshes his memory on the Coroners (Amendment) Act I think that he will see that it is not an unreasonable suggestion. I would ask him to look at that Act and not press his Amendment.

Mr. Paget

I am most grateful for that explanation, and beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.