CORONER, an ancient office first referred to, as custos placitorum, in s. 20 of the Articles of Eyre (1194), though it was probably instituted before that date; possibly by Henry I. (1 I oo 31). The coroner appears as a check on the sheriff in the royal interest. Magna Carta (1215) prohibits both sheriff and coroner from holding pleas of the Crown. The king had a pecuniary interest if, for example, a dead man's Englishry (q.v.) could not be proved; in the deodand (q.v.) , and in forfeiture (q.v.). Little is left of those duties which made the mediaeval coroner a con siderable figure. The Eyre (see ASSIZE), the criminal appeal (q.v.), outlawry (q.v.), sanctuary (q.v.), abjuration (q.v.) are hardly more than names to us. Other powers already obsolescent were expressly taken away by the Coroners Act of 1887, s. 44, which section, interestingly enough, re-enacts the provision of Magna Carta above referred to.
The office was always elective, the appointment being made by the freeholders of the county assembled in the county court. The first statute of Westminster enacted that none but lawful and dis creet knights should be chosen as coroners. Lands to the value of £20 per annum (the qualification for knighthood) were after wards deemed sufficient. Blackstone complains that "through the culpable neglect of gentlemen of property, this office has been suffered to fall into disrepute and get into low and indigent hands." The Coroners Amendment Act, 1926, requires that a coroner shall be a barrister, solicitor or legally qualified medical prac titioner of not less than five years' standing in his profession, no property qualification being required. The practice of the London County Council is to appoint gentlemen possessing both legal and medical qualifications.
The judges of the high court are ex officio sovereign coroners: they may (but, in fact, do not) exercise their jurisdiction in any part of the realm.
The duties of a coroner are now limited to an enquiry (in quest) super visum corporis into the cause of all deaths occurring within his district by violent or unnatural means or from some unknown cause, or on anyone who has died in prison or in such place or under such circumstances as to require an inquest in pursuance of any act. The coroner must view the body, but since the Act of 1926 the jury need not. Evidence is given upon oath, but the procedure is somewhat informal, seeing that the proceed ings are in the nature of an enquiry and not of a trial. If any person is found guilty of murder, manslaughter or infanticide, the coroner commits him for trial, but in practice since the Act of 1926 he seldom has to do this, as it is provided by s. 20 (I) that if the coroner is informed before the jury have given their verdict that some person has been charged with any of these crimes he shall adjourn the inquest until after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings. By the City of London Fire Inquests Act, 1888, the coroner for the City holds inquests in cases of loss or injury by fire in the City of London and the liberties thereof situated in the county of Middlesex. In Scotland the duties of a coroner are performed by an officer called a procurator-fiscal.
In the United States, coroners are generally elected by the qualified voters of the county. In some states they are appointed by the executive. No property qualification exists as to eligibility for the office; instead a bond with adequate sureties must be filed by the coroner on assuming office. The coroner's duties extend to the holding of an inquest super visum corporis whenever there is a reasonable suspicion attending the circumstances of death. Refusal by a physician of a death certificate requires the holding of an inquest. Autopsies are performable upon the coroner's order. The finding of the coroner's jury does not operate as an indictment but may lead to the procurement of an indictment, though in many states the finding itself is equivalent to an information upon which the magistrate may issue his summons.