Casualty Bureau |
Useful contacts (inc. other Coroners
Courts) | Coroners' records
Mortuary services |
Bereavement & funerals |
History of the office |
Links
The City Coroner is appointed by the City of London to enquire
into deaths reported to him and into cases of treasure that is
found.
The City Coroner is not the coroner for the whole of London
(click here to view a
map of the City boundary) - the area covered by the City
Coroner). While coroners are appointed and financed by local
authorities, they are judicial officers holding an independent
office, rather than employees. Although local authorities have some
control in financial matters, they have none over coroners' actual
decisions. In practice, coroners are responsible to the High Court
and to the Lord Chancellor.
The Coroner appoints a Deputy and an Assistant Deputy. Each of
them must be either a lawyer or a medical practitioner of at least
five years' standing, and each has the same powers to hold
inquests.
A coroner normally has jurisdiction in relation to a death only
if the body is lying within his district (in this case the City of
London). It does not matter where the death occurred, but where the
body now is. The coroner's inquest is a public hearing in open
court, to which witnesses are called to give evidence about the
death in question, or about treasure that has been found. No-one
prosecutes or defends - instead the coroner inquires. He or she is
in charge and, for example, decides which witnesses to call and
question.
Some people - such as those who have an emotional or financial
interest in the death - are allowed, as 'interested persons', not
only to attend the hearing but also to take part in the enquiry by
asking relevant questions of the witnesses either themselves or
through a lawyer.
Inquests do not establish if anyone was at fault or to blame for
deaths - instead, they try to find out (and record) who the
deceased was, how, when and where the deceased came by his or her
death and the particulars needed for registration of the death.
Matters of blame or fault can only be pursued in separate civil or
criminal proceedings. The coroner may report the facts to an
appropriate authority which may have power to prevent similar
fatalities in future, but he or she cannot make recommendations or
compel the authority to do anything.
Until 1926 a coroner always sat with a jury, but now this only
happens in rare cases. As a coroner's inquest depends on the detail
and complexity of the evidence, it may last half an hour or several
days. In principle, coroner's inquests are open to the public and
anyone may attend. Witnesses who are summoned must attend.
In addition to holding inquests into certain kinds of deaths, a
coroner holds inquests into treasure that is found in his or her
district. Medieval law held treasure trove to be gold or silver
that had been hidden with a view to retrieval later. The Treasure
Act of 1996 widened this to include other categories such as coins
and other objects. All treasure found in the City or in Southwark
belongs by law to the City of London rather than to the Crown.
Casualty Bureau
In the event of a major incident a casualty bureau telephone
number will be released, by the police, through the national
media.
Read about the City's Security and Contingency Planning.
Please do not call the Department of Environmental
Services contact telephone numbers given in the section on the St
Pancras Mortuary on these web pages.
The Casualty Bureau is not intended as a general information
bureau, it is set up specifically to deal with missing persons,
survivors, evacuees and witnesses involved in an incident. The
Casualty Bureau is designed to receive and collate information not
give it out. However, when casualties or survivors are identified,
the enquirer is told as soon as possible following a call.
Useful contacts
The City of London Coroner
The City Coroner is Paul Matthews and the Coroner's Officer is
Paul Major.
City of London Coroner's Court
Walbrook Wharf
78-83 Upper Thames Street
London EC4R 3TD
Tel 020 7332 1598 (out-of-hours via City of London Police on 020
7601 2222)
Fax 020 7332 1800
Coroners with districts adjacent to The City of London
For City of Westminster, Royal Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea, Boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth
Inner West London,
Westminster Coroner's Court,
65 Horseferry Road,
London SW1.
Tel 020 7834 6515
and
Battersea Coroner's Court,
48 Falcon Road,
London,
SW11 2LR.
Tel 020 7228 6044
For London Boroughs of Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower
Hamlets
Inner North London St Pancras Coroner's Court,
Camley Street,
London, NW1.
Tel 020 7387 4884
and
Poplar Coroner's Court,
127 Poplar High Street,
London. E14.
Tel 020 7538 1201
For London Boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham,
Greenwich
Inner South London,
Southwark Coroner's Court,
1 Tennis Street,
London SE1.
Tel 020 7525 4200
Coroners'
records
The City of London Records Office contains a great many records
relating to the City, its institutions and its people. These
include coroners' records. Links are provided here to:
The City of London Records Office
A note on coroners records in the CLRO
Public Mortuary Service
The Public Health Act 1936 gives local authorities power to
provide a mortuary for the reception of bodies and the carrying out
of post-mortems and the City of London has been providing HM
Coroner for the City of London with a public mortuary for many
years.
The City of London also has contingency plans to deal with
circumstances where the existing mortuary used is unable to cope -
eg a transport accident or terrorist incident resulting in large
numbers of deaths. Responsibility for provision of temporary
mortuary facilities are allocated to the Department of
Environmental Services.
Other mortuary services
- To provide for the dignified and respectful receipt, storage
and examination of deceased persons as requested by the HM
Coroner
- To assist appointed Pathologists with autopsies
- To provide facilities for the dignified viewing of the deceased
persons by relatives (usually for identification purposes)
- To liaise with relatives or funeral undertakers for the
collection of the deceased person and any belongings following
release by the HM Coroner.
- To be an integral part of the London-wide disaster response
plans in conjunction with the
City of London Security and Contingency Planning Group,
City of London
Police and the
London Resilience Forum.
For the City this service is currently contracted to be provided
on behalf of the City of London by the London Borough of Camden at
their St. Pancras Public Mortuary. Any enquiries concerning this
service for The City of London “Square Mile” please contact:
Telephone +44 (0)20 7332 3630
Fax +44 (0)20 7332 1623
Email DES
Enquiries
Out of hours +44 (0)20 7606 3030
Any enquiries concerning other London Borough’s with districts
adjacent to the City of London then please see the listing of
Coroners under contacts heading above.
Bereavement and
funerals
Information is provided elsewhere on this site relating to:
History
Originally coroners were elected in each county to look after
local matters in which the King has a financial interest. In cities
like London, which were outside the control of the counties,
special arrangements prevailed.
Because the City of London was especially important to the King,
the office of Coroner in the City of London was until the late 15th
century held by a royal officer called the King's Chamberlain or
the King's Butler.
Sometimes, particularly in periods when the City was weak in
power, this person was also appointed the City's Mayor as well.
However, in 1478 King Edward IV granted to the Mayor and
Commonalty of the City (in return for a large sum of money) the
right to appoint the City Coroner. In 1550 King Edward VI granted
them a similar right to appoint a Coroner for Southwark, whose
administration was at that time in the hands of the City, even
though it was physically on the other side of the river.
Being appointed by an independent corporation rather than being
elected by the county, these coroners were known as 'franchise'
coroners. For many years it was usual to appoint the same person to
be both Coroner of the City and Coroner for Southwark.
The last person to hold both offices ceased to do so in 1932,
after the right to appoint the Southwark Coroner was transferred by
an Act of 1926 to the London County Council. The City Coroner is
still appointed by the City of London, although now under the
general law (the Coroners Act 1988) rather than by Royal Charter.
Now no longer a 'franchise' coroner, he has the same duties and
powers as any other coroner. From 1888 to 1977, though, he had
jurisdiction, under a special Act of Parliament, to hold inquests
into non-fatal fires in the City.
Useful links
For further information about the work of coroners and the law
relating to coroners' courts and inquests.
The work of the coroner -
Department of Consitutional Affairs
The Coroners Act 1988
Treasure Act
1996
Coroners' Law Resource