Supplementary Order Paper No 174

No 174

House of Representatives

Supplementary Order Paper

Tuesday, 3 May 2016

Coroners Amendment Bill

Proposed amendments

Hon Amy Adams, in Committee, to move the following amendments:

Clause 14

In the heading to clause 14, delete (When designated coroner has exclusive right to custody of body) (page 14, lines 17 and 18).

In clause 14, after new section 19 (page 14, after line 31), insert:

19A Police responsible for co-ordinating extraction of body

(1)

This section applies to a body if—

(a)

the responsible coroner has an exclusive right to custody of the body; and

(b)

the body is in a location from which it can be extracted only with extraordinary effort or the use of special resources.

(2)

The New Zealand Police is responsible, on behalf of the coroner, for co-ordinating the extraction of the body from that location.

Clause 38

In clause 38, replace new section 71(1) (page 25, lines 29 and 30) with:

(1)

This section applies in respect of a death if—

(a)

the death occurred in New Zealand or on or from an aircraft or a ship specified in section 14(1); and

(b)

the death was self-inflicted or there is reasonable cause to suspect that the death was self-inflicted.

Explanatory note

This Supplementary Order Paper makes 2 amendments to the Coroners Amendment Bill, which in turn amends the Coroners Act 2006.

Clause 14 is amended to insert a new section 19A in the Bill, which provides that, in certain cases where the body of a dead person has to be extracted from a location using extraordinary effort or special resources, the police are responsible for co-ordinating the extraction of the body. This reflects and formalises existing practice.

Clause 38 is amended to clarify in new section 71(1) that the restrictions on reporting on suicides and suspected suicides apply only to deaths occurring in New Zealand or on or from a New Zealand aircraft or ship, or an aircraft or a ship of the New Zealand Armed Forces.

Departmental disclosure statement

The Ministry of Justice considers that a departmental disclosure statement is not required to be prepared for this Supplementary Order Paper.