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Coroners and Justice Bill

We have heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, that her Amendment 142 relates to Clause 38 and who may be considered an interested person in relation to a coroner’s investigation. The amendment would add to the list of interested persons those organisations and persons who in the absence of any other interested persons, such as family members, would be recognised as having an interest in a case. We heard from her and from other noble Lords about cases that trouble them in this field. Our view is that it is not necessary to set out additional classes of person who might be interested for the purposes of a coroner’s investigation, because we have included in Clause 38(2)(n) a discretion for the coroner to be able to designate a person as interested if they have sufficient interest in the matter. It is possible that a coroner may exercise his or her discretion in cases where, for whatever reason, there is no other friend or family member of the person who has died who has an interest in the investigation. The coroner will of course consider each case on its merits. If the coroner decides that the person or organisation does not have sufficient interest to be designated under Clause 38(2)(n), it will be open to the person or organisation to appeal the decision to the Chief Coroner. I venture to say that that is an important consideration in dealing with this amendment. It should ensure that only those persons with a proper interest in a coroner’s investigation are so designated, with the appeal rights that flow from that. That is all I intend to say on this matter. I hope that it gives the noble Baroness some comfort.