The coroner's court, its uses and abuses : with suggestions for reform / by J. J. Dempsy.
- Dempsy, J. J.
- Date:
- 1859
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The coroner's court, its uses and abuses : with suggestions for reform / by J. J. Dempsy. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![hesitate to carry out his fell purpose, if fully conscious that the peril of a rigid inquiry would be incurred. There are two points in connexion with the present system that seem especially objectionable : one is, the payment of the Coroner by fees, according to the work done ; and another, the power given to the magistrates to dispute and disallow the sums charged, according to their view of the necessity of such in- quests being held. If the object be to degrade the Coroner, tliis doubtless is the right way to do it. A better mode of upholding his dignity and ensuring his usefulness would be by the payment of an annual salary, which would at once obviate the temptation of instituting inquiries without adequate cause, and free him from the trammels of magisterial interference. It is also satisfactorily shown that the Coroner’s jurisdiction might be beneficially extended in those cases in which death lias occurred through the callous indifference, neglect, or cruelty of parish officials, in refusing to relieve the poor and destitute. The practice of giving medical certificates, without adequate knowledge of the cause of death, is too important to be passed over, since it is one that may be employed for the worst pur- poses. The main object, however, in the various changes that may be considered needful, is to give full power to the Coroner, in all cases of death demanding a legal inquiry; and this can only be done by his emancipation from magisterial thraldom and interference, which now threaten to destroy the usefulness and dignity of one of the best and most ancient of our social in- stitutions. From '‘The Western Flying Post.” » r % Public attention has lately been specially called to the pro- ;• ceedings connected with Coroners’ Courts, and the most un- ] seemly legal differences which have arisen between the magis- | teriai bench and the Coroner’s Court, in regard to what is or is . not necessary to be done before a Coroner should hold an in- ' quest, and make his charge for the same. It would be a work I of supererogation in this day to point out the necessity, useful- » ness, and power of such a Court as that of Coroners. The great alterations made of late years in our system of police, and the distinctive appointments of county and borough magistrates, call for some more specific rules, in order to the due admini- stration of affairs in both Courts, so that the power and dignity of each may be supported. Mr. Dempsy, in the pamphlet before us, has endeavoured to show how this desirable end might be effected. We quite agree with him that the import- ance and usefulness of the Coroner’s Court cannot be too highly](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28268350_0064.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
