The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4190, 1 August 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. 1876.

Over-devotion to law-making has long been a weakness of the General Assembly. Unless they pass ninety or a hundred Bills per session, the members of that body seem to think that they have not earned the honorarium which the country somewhat reluctantly accords to them for their Parliamentary services; and it follows, as a natural consequence, that the Statute Book consists largely of Acts of an exceedingly crude description. That is, howeve?, the least part of the mischief. The English law, notwithstanding the labors of a host of learned reformers, is still very imperfect and the local circumstances of the Colony

require to be specially dealt with ; but these resource? prove insuffioio l t to narLfy the cravings of our senate >t s for fresh legislation, and for want of old material to experiment upon t h«y a/c forced to seek new by inuovtstic legal and constitutional pmicip> , a w hj c 'b juiisls of the highest ce havo hitherto preserved with resp<?r -f,,! vene- * ration. li lustra lions in pie u ty might be given of this dhpoJtic , u 't o raa }j chang. 8; but there is a • recent case quite in point. The Coro* ,ier’s inquest is one of the most aueier ,t of English institutions. As was rcn mked by one of the speakers in the d fbaie upon the sec C.nd reading of tha Coroner’s Bill now before the Assembil<y, it is an institution whose origin ant*‘dates that of the Court ot Queeu's Bench, which, ere it was merged in tire Supreme Court of Judicature, had existed for one thousand years. It may be, of course, that the circumstances of Colonial society are such as to render it inexpedient to retain this venerable institution; but it would require very strong argument indeed to support such a proposition.

The fact of the Coroner’s inquest having survived the vast social .and political changes which havo occurred during one thousand years, :and still maintaining its place in the ’Constitution, proves it to be animated by a principle of exceeding vitality, and its form to be elas'ic enough tc* adapt itself to circumstances of a varied nature. The difference between the state of society as . it was in England five hundred years ago and as it is now is far greater than the difference between the state of society in England and in New Zealand at the present day ; yet the Coronal system scorns as firmly rooted as ever at Home, notwithstanding that instance of misconduct on the part of coroners, arising either from wilfulness or negligence, are common enough, and seldom fail to meet with sharp rebuke trom the Press. The fact of the system exhibiting the defects incident to human contrivances is, however, wisely thought in England not to bo a sufficient reason for tearing up the entire system root and branch.

The Bill under notice contemplates two essential alterations ia the existing law. First, it substitutes Resident Magistrates for all other persons holding the officer of Coroner; and, second, it reduces the number of the jury from twelve to seven, with liberty on the part of the Coroner, if a difficulty is experienced in getting seven to still further reduce the number to four, or even, iu special cases, to hold an inquest without any jury whatever. These changes are fundamental. In England, tho Coroners are elective ; here they are appointed by the Governor and hold office during pleasure. In numerous cases medical men have been appointed, and it is at these appointments the Bill is aimed. The principal objections which have been raised to doctors holding the office of Coroner are that it may so happen that a doctor is t, n £ a ged discharging his duties as Coroner w'lma he should be attending a patient who is lying in a critical state ; and that it places a medical man who is also a Coroner in an unfair position towards his professional brethren. The answer to the first objection is obvious, namely, that if the argument be good for anything it means that a doctor should never go anywhere, but always be in waiting to attend a special summons to the bedside of a patient. The second objection is more fanciful than real. Moreover, the public have nothing to do with doctors' quarrels. The question is, are inquests properly conducted under the present system ? Is tho truth elicited, and justice done % We are not warranted iu uprooting ancient principles, iu order that the green-eyed monster may bo excluded from medical eircles. There is, further, a great deal to be said in favor of employing medical men as Coroners. They are commonly chosen in England for the office on account of their professional skill. The prime function of a Coroner is to investigate the cause of suspicious death, and in such inquiries medical knowledge is exceedingly useful. The arguments under this head were well summarised by Mr Hodgkinson when addressing the House in the debate referred to. He said the Coroner’s duties “ were essentially to direct and assist a jury to determine the cause of death. Now, a .medical man’s whole life had been given up to the particular study of ascertaining tho cause of disease and death, and he had been compelled to go through a special training for that duty. He had also to inquire into the cause where death was not the result of disease, but of murder or accident, and this class of science was commonly called medical jurisprudence. For instance, supposing a person was found lying on a road with marks of violence on the body, a medical man, from having studied the subject, would be more likely than any other man to know whether the supposed injuries were inflicted during life, or whether they occurred after death. The same remarks would apply with regard to a body found iu the water and where it was desirable to know whether the man died before the submersion or afterwards. And, again, in cases where there was a doubt as to whether suicide had been committed or death had been inflicted by another, a knowledge of medical jurisprudence would bo invaluable, and would enable a man, for instance, ie in b/o whether, in tho case of death bout a pistol shot, the wound had been inflicted by the deceased or by another

person, who had placed the pistol in ;.uch a position as to induce the belief tla b ii> avus a case of suicide. In cases ol infanticide, also, special knowledge was required on the part of those inquiring into the cause of death.” And so on, in many other instances. Even if n were undesirable that medical .V:u should hold this office, a change in -the iaw is needless, because the pres< Pu Act gives,the > Governor power to appoint whomsoever he pleases to be Goi'ouer, and to remove the holder of the office at pleasure. Xu any event it wot vhi bo impolitic to make Coroners of Resident Magistrates only. Look at the .obstruction to the Court business, .and the expense and annoyance that would bo occasioned to suitors if the Resident Magistrate of Dunedin were likewise Coroner ! The need for an inquest may arise at any moment, and delay can be permitted. Bes sid°s, in most places, the Resident Magi strates act as police magistrates, and in such cases the result might be fcnab a, person would be examined first before the Resident Magistrate in his calamity as Coroner, and, secondly, before , him as a magistrate. Legal training is not essential to a Coroner. Ho mrarely -requires to possess a general knowledge of the law such us any intelligent person can easily acquire, so as to enable him to properly discharge his functions of president of a body of independentmen who have been called together to determine the cause of a certain ownt, not with the formal solemnity of a court of law, but according to the dictates of plain common sense. It is the great advantage of a Coroner’s imquest that the origin of a death, or fine, or other matter that comes within its jurisdiction can be thoroughly sifted in an informal but effective way, without casting the stigma of suspicion upon any person; whereas an investigation in a Magistrate’s Court cannot be made until a formal accusation has been lodged against somebody, whose name is thus unpleasantly dragged before the publie, while he is commonly put to considerable expense in defending himself, even though he be entirely innocent of the offence imputed to him. To a Coroner’s inquest a jury is essential, and to empower a Magistrate, as this Bill does, to hold an inquest upon a dead body without the assistance of a jury at all, is enabling him to go through a ceremony which would bear no further resemblance to the real Coroner’s inquest than was given by the name. And when the substance was gone, the shadow of the institution would quickly follow.