§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to give coroners power to hold inquests into the deaths of United Kingdom citizens abroad without the costs of such inquests falling on local authorities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MayhewOn 2 April, 1982 the Divisional Court decided, in the case of Regina v. Her Majesty's Coroner for the Eastern District of the Metropolitan County of West Yorkshire, ex parte Ronald Smith—which concerned the death of Miss Helen Smith on 20 May 1979 in Jeddah—that a coroner has no jurisdiction to investigate a sudden, violent or suspicious death occurring abroad, notwithstanding the fact that the body has been brought into the area for which he acts. This decision is the subject of a current application to the Court of Appeal and it would not be appropriate for me to make any comment while these proceedings are still before the courts.