Coroners (Amendment) Act 1926
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1926 c. 59 |
Coroners (Amendment) Act, 1926
(16 & 17 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 59.
An Act to amend the law relating to coroners.
[15 December 1926]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Qualification, Appointment, and Resignation of Coroners.
1 Qualifications and disqualifications.
(1) From and after the commencement of this Act no person shall be qualified to be appointed to be a coroner for a county (in this Act referred to as ‘a county coroner’) or a coroner of a borough (in this Act referred to as ‘a borough coroner’), or a deputy or assistant deputy to a county or borough coroner, unless he is a barrister, solicitor, or legally qualified medical practitioner, of not less than five years standing in his profession:
Provided that no person who at the commencement of this Act is, and for a period of not less than five years has been, a franchise coroner or a deputy to a county coroner or to a borough coroner shall by reason of the foregoing provision be disqualified from being appointed to be a county or borough coroner.
(2) A person shall, so long as he is a mayor, alderman or councillor of a county or borough and for six months after he ceases to be a mayor, alderman or councillor thereof, be disqualified for being a coroner appointed by the council of that county or borough or by a joint committee of which any of the members are appointed by that council and for being a deputy of a coroner so appointed.
(3) A person shall, so long as he is coroner for a county or coroner of a borough or a deputy of such coroner, be disqualified for being elected to be and for being a mayor, alderman or councillor of that county or borough.
(4) Section twelve of the Coroners Act, 1887 (which requires a county coroner to have land in fee in the county), shall cease to have effect.
2 Appointment and resignation of county and borough coroners.
(1) On a vacancy occurring in the office of coroner for a county or borough, the council having power to appoint a person to fill the vacancy shall forthwith give notice thereof to the Secretary of State.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act relating to the formation and alteration of coroners' districts, within three months after the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of coroner for a county or borough or within such further time as the Secretary of State may allow, the council having power to appoint a coroner shall appoint a duly qualified person to the office and shall forthwith give notice of the appointment to the Secretary of State.
(3) A county or borough coroner may resign his office by giving notice in writing to the council having power to appoint his successor, but the resignation shall not take effect unless and until it is accepted by the council.
(4) It shall not be necessary to issue a writ de coronatore eligendo or a writ de coronatore exonerando in respect of the appointment or resignation of a county or borough coroner.
(5) Nothing in this section shall prejudice or affect the jurisdiction of the Lord Chancellor or of any court with respect to the removal of coroners.
3 Provisions as to coroner for Isle of Wight.
3. If His Majesty is pleased to declare in Council that it is his will to relinquish his right of appointing a person to fill the office of coroner for the Isle of Wight, then, on a vacancy in that office occurring at any time thereafter, the Isle of Wight County Council shall have power to appoint a person to fill the vacancy, and the provisions of this Act and of any other enactment relating to the office of county coroner or to county coroners shall apply accordingly to the office of coroner and to the coroner for the Isle of Wight.
4 Abolition of franchise coronerships.
(1) The right of any person having power to appoint a franchise coroner shall cease on the next vacancy in the office which occurs after the passing of this Act, and for all purposes relating to coroners the area in which the franchise coroner had jurisdiction shall thereupon, if and so far as it is situated in a borough the council of which have power to appoint a borough coroner, be merged in the borough, and if and so far as it is not situated in such a borough, be merged in the county.
(2) Where the area or part of the area in which a franchise coroner had jurisdiction is merged in a county which is divided into coroners' districts, any consequential alteration of the division of the county into coroners' districts shall be effected in manner provided by this Act.
(3) The power of appointing a franchise coroner within the liberties of the Duchy of Lancaster or within any of those liberties may be relinquished by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under his hand and seal on behalf of His Majesty, and if so relinquished shall be extinguished, and the foregoing provisions of this section shall apply as respects the area in which any coroner appointed under the power so relinquished had jurisdiction, but save as aforesaid nothing in this section shall apply to His Majesty in right of his Duchy of Lancaster.
(4) If His Majesty is pleased to declare in Council that it is his will to relinquish his right of appointing a person to fill the office of coroner for the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, thereupon the office of coroner for the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England shall be hereby abolished.
(5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply with respect to—
(a ) the King's coroner and attorney; or
(b ) the coroner of the King's Household; or
(c ) the coroner for the City of London; or
(d ) the coroner for the Isles of Scilly.
(6) This section shall come into operation on the passing of this Act.
Salaries and Pensions.
5 Salaries of county and borough coroners.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section every council having power to appoint a coroner shall pay to every county or borough coroner appointed by them an annual salary at such rate as may be fixed by agreement between them and the coroner.
(2) If at any time a coroner and the council by whom his salary is payable are unable to agree with respect to any proposed alteration of the rate of salary, the Secretary of State may, upon the application either of the coroner or of the council, fix the rate of the salary at such rate as he thinks proper, and thereupon the rate so fixed by the Secretary of State shall come into force as from such date as he may determine, not being a date less than three years from the date when the rate of salary came into force as last fixed, unless in the opinion of the Secretary of State the coroner's area or district has in the meantime been materially altered.
(3) In fixing the rate of salary payable to a coroner under this section regard shall be had to the nature and extent of his duties and to all the circumstances of the case.
(4) The salary payable under this section to a borough coroner shall be instead of the fees and allowances specified in the Fourth Schedule to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882 , and the additional payment mentioned in subsection (2) of section twenty-seven of the Coroners Act, 1887, or the remuneration payable under any Act or Provisional Order confirmed by an Act, as the case may be, and no such fees, allowances, additional payment or remuneration as aforesaid shall be payable to a borough coroner after the commencement of this Act.
(5) As respects coroners holding office at the commencement of this Act—
(a ) every coroner to whom a salary is, at the commencement of this Act, payable by the council of any county shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to have been appointed by that council and to be a county coroner; and
(b ) the salary of a county coroner shall, subject to any alteration which may subsequently be made under this section, continue to be payable at the rate in force at the commencement of this Act; and
(c ) the salary of a borough coroner shall in default of agreement between him and the council by whom his salary is payable be at a rate fixed by the Secretary of State.
6 Superannuation of county and borough coroners.
(1) Upon the retirement of any county or borough coroner after not less than five years service, the council by whom his salary is payable shall have power—
(a ) if he has attained the age of sixty-five years; or
(b ) if they are satisfied by means of a medical certificate that he is incapable from infirmity of mind or body of discharging the duties of his office, and that such incapacity is likely to be permanent,
to grant to him a pension of such amount as may be agreed upon between him and the council not exceeding the scale contained in the First Schedule to this Act:
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply with respect to any coroner holding office at the date of the commencement of this Act unless upon his application a resolution applying those provisions to him is passed by the council by whom his salary is payable.
(2) A county or borough coroner with respect to whom the provisions of this section apply shall at any time after he has completed fifteen years service and has attained the age of sixty-five years, vacate his office if called upon to do so by the council by whom his salary is payable, but shall, in the absence of agreement to the contrary, in that case be entitled to receive the...
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