New Zealand Legislation: Acts

59 Jurisdiction of coroners to open inquiries

• A coroner to whom a death is reported under section 15(2)(a) or section 16(2)(b) must not open an inquiry into it unless—

  • (a) the body of the person concerned is in New Zealand; or

  • (b) the coroner is satisfied that it is likely that the person concerned is dead, and that the person's body—

    • (i) is destroyed, irrecoverable, or lost; but

    • (ii) was in New Zealand immediately before it was destroyed, or became irrecoverable or lost; or

  • (c) the body of the person concerned is not in New Zealand, but—

    • (i) the death occurred outside New Zealand on or from an aircraft or a ship; and

    • (ii) the Solicitor-General has authorised the coroner to open an inquiry into the death.

  Compare: 1988 No 111 s 16