In the matter of an application for Judicial Review by Michael Millar
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Morgan J |
| Judgment Date | 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] NIQB 34 |
| Date | 22 April 2005 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No. [2005] NIQB 34 Ref:
MORF5248
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
22/04/2005
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW BY
MICHAEL MILLAR
_________
MORGAN J
[1] The applicant is the husband of Christina Perpetua Millar (the
deceased) who died on 18 January 1998. He challenges a decision of the
Coroner for the District of Greater Belfast contained in a letter dated
10 November 2003 whereby the Coroner declined to investigate further the
death of the deceased because he was functus officio.
[2] The deceased was born on 17 December 1947. She married the
applicant in December 1967. She suffered from a range of serious illnesses
from an early age. She was diagnosed as diabetic at the age of 11 and had
difficulty with control of the condition. She suffered from epilepsy which was
diagnosed in 1987. In 1993 she was diagnosed as suffering from
dermatomyositis and in 1995 those treating her detected mild liver cirrhosis.
She was given a range of drugs to combat these various conditions.
[3] Her condition deteriorated during 1997 and towards the end of that
year she was admitted to the Lagan Valley Hospital for treatment of her liver
cirrhosis. She died one month later.
[4] A death certificate dated 18 January 1998 identified the cause of death
as idiopathic hepatic cirrhosis. It is clear from his affidavits that the applicant
was concerned that the liver cirrhosis had been caused or contributed to by
some of the drug treatments provided for the deceased. In part he was relying
on certain comments which he said had been made to him by Dr Johnston, the
doctor in charge of his wife’s treatment at the Lagan Valley Hospital. On
23 January 1998 he attended Downpatrick Registry Office to register the
death. Because the cause of the liver cirrhosis was unknown the death was not
registered.
[5] The Coroner had no recollection of dealing with this case in 1998 but a
note in his records for 26 January 1998 contains the following:
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McDonnell’s (Elizabeth) Application
...has been completed. When I am functus officio I cannot reopen an Inquest. I have also considered the facts of Re Millar’s Application (2005) NIQB 34. I am satisfied that a decision to revisit my ruling on anonymity falls into the broad category of investigation into the death (which I canno......