Coronial & Inquests
3. Pre-investigation Stage
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 13 Jul 2015
- In some cases it is mandatory to report the death to the coroner. These are called reportable deaths. If a person dies in sudden, suspicious, unnatural or violent circumstances then the police or medical personnel need to report the death to the coroner. There does not need to be anything suspicious about the death to make it reportable.
- The deceased’s family will be notified of the death and of the coroner’s investigation.
- The body will need to be identified. This is done either:
- visually by a person familiar with the deceased or
- through DNA, fingerprints and dental identification.
- Police will do the initial investigation.
- The coroner may decide that there needs to be a further investigation and he or she will co-ordinate this process.
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