The Ellesmere Guardian. SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1891. CORONIAL INQUIRIES.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 929, 25 July 1891, Page 2

The Ellesmere Guardian. SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1891. CORONIAL INQUIRIES.

j Mn Guinness, M.H.R. for the Grey, j has brought m a bill proposing very drastic reform m the law relating to Coroners' Inquests. He proposes, to entirely do away with Juries and to gi»e. full power to the Coroners to conduct I such inquests, sitting alone. It will be : readily admitted that m many instances the work of the jury is of a merely for* mal nature, and the verdict, of the coroner alone would be fully as satis factory as that of the good men and true empanelled to hear the evidence. But this is not. always the case, and occasions imty arise when the assistance of trie jury would be satisfactory alike to i the public and to the coronet. The | ftbsen c of the jury would place aJtoget- ] her too much responsibility on the shoulders of the coroner — a responsibility he would, we should imagine, shrink from undertaking. There is ample room for reform m the matter of such inquiries without proceeding to such extremities*. We should like to see it made illegal to hold a coroner's inquest without the examination of the bo ly by a duly qualified medical man. Many inquests are held m the colony during the yeai at which no medical evidence is adduced. In some cases, possibly m the majority of such inquiries, no harm results from fcho omission, but none the less there is the possibility of a miscarriage of justice. The leading writers on medical jurispru dence unanimously condemn the principle, holding that the verdict of a jury on an inquest where no medical examination of the body has been made, is worthless. Another point on which reform is needed is that of payment of the jurors. The remuneration need not be h'gh, but. ic should be sufficient, if not to fully compensate him for his loss of tiiLe, at least to cover any expense he may have been put to. At present t,he thanks of a grateful Queen an 1 country, however gratifying they may be to loyal I subjects, are but a poor return to one who has lo3t half a day's, a day's, or even more than a day's work m what is at best, a very unpleasant tank. We do not think Mr Guinness' bill will ever become law. We hope to see on the statute books before very long, an Act providing for the remuneration of the juryman he wishes t j abolish. -■■ - - B I