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Coroners Ordinance 1959

CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2009

CORONERS ORDINANCE 1959

Arrangement of Provisions

1. Short title
2. Appointment of Coroners

FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF CORONERS

3. Functions of Coroners
4. When Coroner to hold inquest
5. Inquest in certain other cases
6. Inquest need not be held in certain circumstances
7. Inquest where body destroyed or irrecoverable
8. Coroner may require medical report
9. Coroner may authorise post mortem examination
10. Coroner may order burial of body
11. Medical practitioner may perform certain acts

THE INQUEST

12. Purpose of inquest
13. Before whom inquest to be held
14. Date and place of inquest
15. View of body
16. Hearing in public
17. Coroner to examine witnesses on oath
18. Witness neglecting to attend
19. Inquest where death was self inflicted
20. Death, incapacity, etc., of Coroner
21. Finding of Coroner at inquest

INQUIRIES CONCERNING FIRES

22. Inquiries concerning fires

MISCELLANEOUS

23. Police to assist at inquests and inquiries
24. Supreme Court may in certain cases order inquest to be held
25. Protection of witnesses and counsel
26. Penalty for unlawful publication of proceedings
27. Inquests may be held on Sunday
28. Fees and allowances
29. Regulations
30. Repeals and savings

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THE CORONERS ORDINANCE 1959
1959 No.5

AN ORDINANCE to consolidate and amend certain Ordinances relating to Coroners.

(24 August 1959)
(Commencement date 24 August 1959)

1. Short title - This Ordinance may be cited as the Coroners Ordinance 1959.

2. Appointment of Coroners - The Chief Justice and all other Judges of the Supreme Court of Samoa shall, by virtue of holding office, be a Coroner within the meaning of this Ordinance.

FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF CORONERS

3. Functions of Coroners - (1) The principal functions of a Coroner shall be to inquire, in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance, into the manner of death of any person in any case where this Ordinance requires that the death be reported to a Coroner, and into such matters relating to fires as are provided in section 22.

(2) Every Coroner shall, for the purpose of exercising any of the powers, functions, or duties conferred or imposed on the coroner by this Ordinance, have the same powers, privileges, authorities, and immunities as are possessed by a Judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa and in particular shall have power to issue summonses for and warrants to enforce the attendance of witnesses at an inquest or inquiry under this Ordinance, to maintain order at any such inquest or inquiry, to administer oaths, to examine witnesses, to punish for contempt, and to adjourn any proceedings before him from time to time and from place to place:

PROVIDED THAT the Coroner may require the Registrar of the Supreme Court or any Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court to issue the summonses and warrants which he or she is hereby empowered to issue either generally or in respect of any particular inquest or inquiry.

4. When Coroner to hold inquest - (1) A Coroner shall hold an inquest in each case where the Coroner is informed that a person is dead and there is reasonable cause to suspect that the person:

(a) Has died either a violent or an unnatural death; or

(b) Has died while in the legal custody of the Superintendent of a penal institution; or

(c) Has died in such a place or under such circumstances that, in accordance with the provisions of any enactment other than this Ordinance, an inquest is required to be held.

(2) A Coroner shall hold an inquest where the Coroner is informed that any person has died a sudden death of which the cause is unknown:

PROVIDED THAT in any such case the Coroner may decide, in accordance with section 6, not to hold an inquest.

(3) It shall be the duty of any person finding a person lying dead, or having knowledge of the death of any person in any of the circumstances set forth in the foregoing provisions of this section, to report the death to a constable, who shall thereupon report the death to a Coroner.

(4) After a constable has reported the death to a Coroner in accordance with subsection (3), the Commissioner of Police shall make such inquiries as may be necessary for the purposes of this Ordinance or as may be directed by the Coroner.

5. Inquest in certain other cases - Where a Coroner is informed that a person has died while in custody as a mental patient or while committed to the care of the Child Welfare Officer or while in such a place or in such circumstances that in accordance with the provisions of any enactment other than this Ordinance, notice of the death is required to be given to a Coroner, the Coroner shall hold an inquest if the Coroner considers an inquest to be necessary or desirable:
PROVIDED THAT nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorise a Coroner to dispense with an inquest in any case to which section 4(1) or (2) applies.

6. Inquest need not be held in certain circumstances - (1) Where any sudden death of which the cause is unknown is reported to a Coroner and the Coroner is of opinion that further inquiries or a post mortem examination may prove an inquest to be unnecessary, the Coroner may direct any inquiries the Coroner thinks proper to be made and may authorise any medical practitioner within the meaning given to that term by section 2 of the Medical Practitioners Act 1975 to hold a post mortem examination of the body and to report the result thereof to the Coroner in writing.

(2) Where the Coroner, as a result of the post mortem examination or of inquiries made by the Coroner, is satisfied that the death was due to natural causes and did not take place in such place or in such circumstances as to necessitate the holding of an inquest in accordance with the requirements of any enactment, the Coroner may decide not to hold an inquest.

7. Inquest where body destroyed or irrecoverable - Where a Coroner has reason to believe that a death has occurred in such circumstances that an inquest ought to be held and, because of provisions of section 15, an inquest cannot be held except by virtue of the provisions of this section, the Coroner may report the facts to the Attorney-General of Samoa, and the Attorney-General may, if he or she considers it desirable so to do, direct an inquest to be held in respect of the death, and an inquest shall be held accordingly by the Coroner making the report or such other Coroner as the Attorney-General may direct. The provisions of this Ordinance shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to any such inquest.

8. Coroner may require medical report - Whether or not an inquest is being held, the Coroner may require any medical practitioner who has recently attended the person into whose death the Coroner is inquiring, to supply a report relating to the deceased person.

9. Coroner may authorise post mortem examination - (1) The Coroner may at any time before the termination of the inquest authorise any medical practitioner within the meaning given to that term by section 2 of the Medical and Practitioners Act 1975 other than a medical practitioner who, to the knowledge of the Coroner, has attended the deceased person immediately prior to his or her death, to perform a post mortem examination of the body of the deceased person.

(2) Any medical practitioner who has attended the deceased person immediately prior to his or her death shall be entitled to be present at the examination. The Coroner may, if the Coroner thinks it necessary, have notice served on any such medical practitioner requiring him or her to attend the post mortem examination or to submit a report for the assistance of the person holding the post mortem examination.

(3) Upon application being made, the Coroner may permit any other person to be represented by a medical practitioner as an observer at any such post mortem examination.

(4) The Coroner may authorise an analyst or a pathologist to make an analysis and report on any case where an inquest is held.

(5) For the purposes of this section and of sections 6 and 8, the Coroner may give such directions as the Coroner thinks fit as to the disposal or removal of the body of any person whose death has been reported under this Ordinance, and any person who fails to comply with any such direction or who does any act to hinder or prevent any such direction being complied with commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding 2 penalty units.

10. Coroner may order burial of body - A Coroner may at any time order the burial of the body of any person whose death has been reported under this Ordinance and except as provided in section 11 no burial of the body of any such person shall take place without such an order.

11. Medical practitioner may perform certain acts - Where a Coroner is empowered to authorise a post mortem examination under section 6 or section 9 or where a Coroner is required to give an order for burial under section 10 and the death has occurred in some remote part of Samoa from which it is impracticable to bring the body of the deceased person to Apia and at which it is impracticable for a Coroner to attend, it shall be lawful for the functions of a medical practitioner under section 6 or section 9 or of the Coroner under section 10 to be discharged by a medical practitioner appointed with specific or general authority in that regard by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Health who is hereby authorised to make and rescind such appointments from time to time accordingly.

INQUEST

12. Purpose of Inquest - An inquest shall be conducted by the Coroner for the purpose of establishing:

(a) The fact that a person has died;

(b) The identity of the deceased person;

(c) When, where, and how the death occurred.

13. Before whom inquest to be held - (1) Subject to subsection (2), every inquest shall be held before a Coroner alone.

(2) Any inquest may, at the direction of a Coroner, be held concurrently with any other inquiry or judicial proceedings before a Coroner alone or at which a Coroner presides.

14. Date and place of inquest - Where an inquest is to be held the Coroner shall fix the date, time, and place of the inquest, and shall give notice therefor either under his or her hand or by the Registrar of the Supreme Court or the Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court to the senior officer of Police of the place where the inquest is to be held, who shall give notice of the date, time, and place of the inquest to such persons as he or she thinks fit, or as the Coroner directs.

15. View of body - (1) Subject to the provisions of section 7, no inquest shall be concluded unless the Coroner is satisfied that the body in respect of which the inquest is being held has been viewed by some person giving evidence at the inquest.

(2) It shall not be necessary for the Coroner to view the body in respect of which the inquest or inquiry is held.

16. Hearing in public - (1) Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, the building or place in which an inquest is held shall be open to the public:

PROVIDED THAT if the Coroner considers it desirable in the interests of justice, decency, or order, the Coroner may exclude all or any persons from the whole or any part of the proceedings at the inquest, or may prohibit the publication of any part of the evidence given at the inquest.

(2) The Coroner may direct that any witness not yet heard at an inquest shall go and remain outside or away from the place of hearing until required to give evidence.

17. Coroner to examine witnesses on oath - (1) The Coroner shall at the inquest examine on oath all persons who tender their evidence respecting the facts in issue and all other persons whom the Coroner thinks it expedient to examine.

(2) At any inquest any person who, in the opinion of the Coroner, has a sufficient interest in the subject or result of the inquest may attend personally or by counsel, and may examine and cross-examine witnesses.

(3) In all proceedings under this Ordinance the Coroner may admit any evidence that the Coroner thinks fit, whether or not the same is otherwise admissible in a Court of law, but no evidence shall be admitted by the Coroner for the purposes of the inquest unless in his or her opinion the evidence is necessary for the purpose of establishing any of the matters referred to in section 12.

(4) Where:

(a) The Coroner is satisfied that there is no reason making it desirable that the witness should give the whole of his or her evidence orally; and

(b) No person attending the inquest entitled to examine and cross-examine witnesses objects to the procedure being followed,-

the Coroner may permit any witness to give the whole or part of his or her evidence by tendering a previously prepared statement in writing and confirming the same on oath. The witness may be cross-examined on any evidence in the statement as if it had been given orally at the inquest, and the statement shall form part of the depositions taken at the inquest.

(5) The Coroner shall put into writing the evidence admitted by him or her at the inquest and the depositions of each witness giving evidence at the inquest shall be read over to and signed by the witness and by the Coroner:

PROVIDED THAT, where an inquest is being held in the Supreme Court, pursuant to section 13(2), concurrently with a trial for murder or manslaughter or infanticide or any other trial in which the cause of death of any person is in issue, the depositions of each witness giving evidence need not be read over to him or her or be signed by the witness or by the presiding Judge.

18. Witness neglecting to attend - Every witness on whom any summons is served, either personally or by leaving the same at his or her residence with an inmate appearing to be above the age of 14 years, in sufficient time for the witness to obey the same, who fails without good and sufficient excuse to obey any such summons, and every medical practitioner who is directed by a Coroner to attend a post mortem examination or to furnish a report in accordance with this Ordinance, and who neglects or refuses to obey any such summons, direction, or order, commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 1 penalty unit.

19. Inquest where death was self inflicted - (1) Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, where it appears to the Coroner at the commencement or in the course of an inquest that the circumstances are such that it appears possible that death may have been self inflicted, the Coroner may direct that no report, or no further report, of the proceedings shall be published until after the Coroner has made his or her finding.

(2) Where the Coroner finds that the death was self inflicted, no report of the proceedings of the inquest shall, without the authority of the Coroner, be published other than the name, address, and occupation of the deceased person, the fact that an inquest has been held, and that the Coroner has found that the death was self inflicted.

20. Death, incapacity, etc., of Coroner - Where a Coroner has commenced to hold an inquest and dies or is incapacitated by illness, absence, or other sufficient cause from completing the inquest, the inquest may be completed by some other Coroner, who may act upon any evidence already given at the inquest in all respects as if it were given before him or her.

21. Finding of Coroner at inquest - (1) After considering all the evidence before him at the inquest the Coroner shall give a finding and shall sign a certificate as to the facts specified in the prescribed form.

(2) The Coroner shall forward the certificate to the Registrar appointed under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2002, and copies thereof, together with all depositions of witnesses, to the Commissioner of Police and to the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Health.

INQUIRIES CONCERNING FIRES

22. Inquiries concerning fires - Upon the request of the Commissioner of Police, the Chief Fire Officer, or any other responsible officer of the Public Service that an inquiry be held as to the cause and origin of any fire and as to the effectiveness or otherwise of the measures taken to deal with such fire, and all other incidental matters in connection therewith, a Coroner shall make a preliminary investigation as to the necessity for such an inquiry, and shall order that such an inquiry shall or shall not be held as the case may be. If the Coroner shall order an inquiry to be held, the provisions of this Ordinance shall mutatis mutandis apply to such inquest.

MISCELLANEOUS

23. Police to assist at inquests and inquiries - It shall be the duty of the Police to assist at all inquests, inquiries, and investigations under this Ordinance.

24. Supreme Court may in certain cases order inquest to be held - (1) Where in respect of any death the Supreme Court, on application made by or under the authority of the Attorney-General of Samoa, is satisfied either:

(a) That a Coroner refuses or neglects to hold an inquest which ought to be held; or

(b) Where an inquest has been held by a Coroner, whether before or after the passing of this Ordinance, that, by reason of fraud, rejection of evidence, irregularity of proceedings, insufficiency of inquiry, discovery of new facts or evidence, or otherwise, it is necessary or desirable in the interests of justice that another inquest should be held,-

the Court may order an inquest to be held in respect of the death; and where an inquest has already been held, may quash the finding of the Coroner.

(2) Subject to the order of the Supreme Court any such inquest may be held by the same Coroner or any other Coroner.

(3) On any such inquest, unless the Supreme Court otherwise orders, all depositions taken on any former inquest in respect of the said death shall be deemed to have been taken on the new inquest.

(4) Except as otherwise provided by this section, any such inquest shall be held in the same manner as any other inquest.

25. Protection of witnesses and counsel - Every witness attending and giving evidence at any inquest or inquiry held under this Ordinance and every counsel appearing before a Coroner shall have the same privileges and immunities as witnesses and counsel in Courts of law.

26. Penalty for unlawful publication of proceedings - Every person who publishes:

(a) A report of any proceedings in contravention of this Ordinance; or

(b) Any question or inquiry at any inquest which the Coroner:

(i) Has forbidden or disallowed; or

(ii) Has warned the witness he or she is not obliged to answer, and has ordered shall not be published,-

commits an offence, and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding 2 penalty units.

27. Inquests may be held on Sunday - It shall be lawful to hold any inquest upon a Sunday whenever in the opinion of the Coroner it is expedient to hold the same on that day.

28. Fees and allowances - Such reasonable payment in respect of their expenses and loss of time as the Coroner awards shall be paid to any witness attending an inquest, and to any medical practitioner, analyst, or pathologist (not being a member of the Public Service) giving evidence at an inquest or performing any function under this Ordinance.

29. Regulations - (1) The Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may from time to time make regulations for any purpose for which regulations are contemplated or required by this Ordinance, and may make all such other regulations as the Head of State thinks necessary or expedient for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Ordinance and for the due administration thereof.

(2) All regulations made under this Ordinance shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly within 28 days after the making thereof if the Legislative Assembly is then in session, and if not shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly within 28 days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

30. Repeals and savings - (1) The Coroners Ordinance 1921 and section 6 of the Ordinances Amendment Ordinance 1934 are hereby repealed.

(2) The repeal of any provision by this Ordinance shall not affect any document made or anything whatsoever done under the provision so repealed or under another corresponding former provision, and every such document or thing so far as it is subsisting or in force at the time of the repeal and could have been made or done under this Ordinance shall continue and have effect as if it had been made or done under the corresponding provision of this Ordinance and as if that provision had been in force when the document was made or the thing was done.

REVISION NOTES 1997

The Coroner's Ordinance 1959 appearing in this reprint comprised that Ordinance as it appears in the 1977 reprint together with amendments to the penalties in sections 9, 18, and 26 as contained in the Schedule to the Omnibus Fees and Charges Amendment Act 1988

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revisions have been made –

(a) References to Western Samoa have been amended to Samoa in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of Samoa in 1997.

(b) The fines have been amended and are stated as penalty units as provided for by the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998.

(c) All references to the male gender have been made gender neutral.

(d) Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.

(e) Amendments have been made to up-date references to offices, officers and statutes.

(f) Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.

The following amendment has been made to specific sections of the Act to incorporate amendments made by Act of Parliament passed since the publication of the Western Samoa Statutes Reprint 1978-1996 –

Section 21(2) The reference to the "Registrar General" was replaced with "the Registrar appointed under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2002" by the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2002

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2007. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Aumua Ming Leung Wai
Attorney General of Samoa

Revised and consolidated by Graham Bruce Powell
Under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2008 No. 2

Section 4 (general powers of the Attorney General) of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 is used to insert the commencement date. By virtue of section 8 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1974, in the absence of an expressed commencement date, the date of assent is the commencement date.

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2008. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Aumua Ming Leung Wai
Attorney General of Samoa

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2009

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2009. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Aumua Ming Leung Wai
Attorney General of Samoa

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

The Coroners Ordinance 1959 is administered in the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration.