Coroners in counties are elected for life ; but if they accept an office incom patible with the duties, such as that of sheriff, or dwell in a remote part of the county, or are incapacitated by age or infirmity, they are removable by means of the writ De Coronatore Eronerando; and by the stat 25 Geo. H. c. 29, § 6, they may be removed upon conviction of extortion, wilful neglect of duty, or misdemeanor in their office. The Lord Chancellor has authority, however, inde pendently of the above statute, to remove coroners for neglect of duty, upon pe tition presented by the freeholders of the county. (1 Jacob and Walker, Reports, 451.) At common law the coroner had autho rity to hear and determine felonies ; but his powers in this respect were expressly abrogated by Magna Charts, cap. 17. The article (G) Officer in Comyns' Di gest' contains a statement of the various duties of the coroner in the king's house, and of the coroner in a county. The most usual duty of a coroner is that of taking inquisitions when any person dies in pri son or comes to a violent or sudden death ; and though his duties, as well as his au thority in this respect, are said to have existed at common law, they are declared by the 4 Edw. I. stat. 2, commonly called the statute De Officio Coronatoris. His court is a Court of Record. By the direc tions of that statute, "the coroner, upon information, shall go to the places where any be slain, or suddenly dead or wounded, and shall forthwith command four of the next towns, or five or six, to appear be fore him in such a place ; and when they are come thither, the coroner, upon the oath of them, shall inquire in this man ner ; that is to wit, if they know where the person was slain, whether it were in any house, field, bed, tavern, or company, and who were there ; who are culpable, either of the act, or of the force ; and who were present, either men or women, and of what age soever they be, if they can speak, or have any discretion ; and how many soever be found culpable, they shall be taken and delivered to the sheriff, and shall be committed to the gaol ; and such as be found and be not culpable, shall be attached until the coming of the judge of assize." And it is declared by the same statute, that " if it fortune any such man be slain, which is found in the fields or in woods, first it is to be in quired whether he were slain in the same place, or not ; and if he were brought and laid there, they should do so much as they can to follow their steps that brought the body thither, whether he were brought upon a horse or in a cart. It shall also be inquired if the dead person were known, or else a stranger, and where he lay the night before." It is declared also by the same statute, that " all wounds ought to be viewed, the length, breadth, and deepness; and with what weapons ; and in what part of the body the wound or hurt is ; and how many be culpable ; and how many wounds there be ; and who gave the wound." In like manner it is to be inquired by the coroner " of them that be drowned, or suddenly dead, whether they were so drowned or slain, or strangled by the sign of a cord tied straight about their necks, or about any of their members, or upon any other hurt found upon their bodies. And if they were not slain, then ought the coroner to attach the finders and all other in the eompany." The provisions of this an cient statute are still in force, and are to be followed by coroners in all their par ticular directions as nearly as possible at the present day in inquisitions of death. In case of a death happening upon the high sea, inquisitions are taken before the Admiralty coroner, who is appointed by the king or the lord admiral ; and the county coroners have in such a case no jurisdiction. The inquisitions taken be fore the Admiralty coroner are returned to the Commissioners of the Admiralty under stet. 28 Hen. VIII. c. 15. Coro ners ought to sit and inquire into the cause of death of all persons who die in prison. They have no jurisdiction within the verge of the king's courts. The coro ner of the king's household has jurisdic tion within the verge of the king's courts. The coroner has authority to assemble a jury by means of a precept directed to the constables of the hundred or adjoining township, and jurors and witnesses who make default may, under 7 & 8 Viet. c. 92, be fined any sum not exceeding 40s. and their names returned to the clerk of the peace, who is to levy the fine. Be fore this act the names of jurors who did not attend were returned to the judges of assize, by whom they might be fined. The coroner may also punish witnesses who refuse to give evidence, for contempt of court. When the jury are assembled, they are charged and sworn by the coro ner to inquire, upon view of the body, how the party came by his death. The act for the registration of deaths (6 & Will. IV. c. 86) provides that at every inquest " the jury shall inquire of the particulars herein required to be regis tered concerning the death, and the coro ner shall inform the registrar of the find ing of the jury." One of the particulars herein required to be registered is the "cause of death." The inquiry assumes therefore something of a medico-juris prudential character, by being directed to the "cause" of death, instead of being chiefly made with a view to ascertain if death were the result of homicide. That was and is important ; but there are other points to be settled which are also im portant, and in which medical and che mical skill can alone determine whether the cause of sudden death has been na tural or whether suicide has been com mitted. Instances have occurred in which death from opium has been mis taken for apoplexy, until a post-mortem examination has taken place. The Life Insurances have a direct interest in as certaining the precise cause of death, and to the community generally it is of con sequence that there should be as little impunity as possible to crime. The co roner has no authority to take an inqui sition of death, except upon view of the body by himself and the jury ; and if he does so, the inquisition is wholly void. (Rex v. Ferrand, 3 Barn. and Ald. Re ports, 260.) Formerly, it is probable that the whole inquisition was taken in the presence of the ,body, but it is now sufficient if the coroner and jury together see the body, so far as to ascertain whe ther there are marks of violence upon it or any appearances which may account for the cause of death. The coroner must sit at the place where the death has happened. If the coroner's inquest finds that any person is guilty of murder or other homicide, it is his duty to commit them to prison for trial, and he must also inquire what lands, goods, and chattels he may have, which are liable to forfeiture for such murder. He must also inquire
whether any deodand has in any case of violent death become due to the king, or the lord of the franchise by the death of the person upon whose body the inquisi tion is held. If a body liable to an in quest has been buried before the coroner has notice of the circumstances of the death, he has authority to cause it to be disinterred for the purpose of holding the inquest, provided he does so within a reasonable time. The coroner has power to exclude persons from his court. By a recent statute (7 Geo. IV. c.•64, § 4), which repeals an old enactment on this subject, it is provided that " every coro ner, upon any inquisition before him taken, whereby any person shall be in dicted for manslaughter or murder, or as an accessary to murder before the fact, shall put in writing the evidence given to the jury before him, or as much thereof as shall be material ; and shall have au thority to bind by recognizance all such persons as know or declare anything ma terial touching the said manslaughter or murder, or the said offence of being ac oessary to murder, to appear at the next court of over and termmer, or gaol de livery, or superior criminal court of a county palatine, or great sessions, at which the trial is to be, then and there to prose cute or give evidence against the party charged ; and every such coroner shall certify and subscribe the same evidence, and all such recognizances, and also the inquisition before him taken, and shall deliver the same to the proper officer of the court in which the trial is to be, be fore or at the opening of the court." It is also a branch of the coroner's business to inquire into shipwrecks, and certify whether it is a wreck or not, and who has got possession of the goods. He also in quires into treasure trove. By a sec tion of the 7 Geo. IV. c. 64, authority' is given to the court to which the in quisition ought to be delivered to exa mine in a summary manner into any offence committed by the coroner against the act, and to punish him by fine. The coroner's inquisition may be removed into the Court of King's Bench, and the facts found may be traversed by the per sonal representatives of the deceased ; or the court may make it for any apparent defect. By 7 & 8 Vict. the coroner is prohibited from acting professionally in any case in which he shall have sat as coroner.
For every inquisition taken in any place contributing to the county rates, the coroner is entitled to a fee of 20s., and by 1 Vict. c. 68, to an addition of t s. 84., and also to 9d. for every mile which he is obliged to travel from his usual place of abode to any other place, for the pur pose of taking it, to be paid by order of sessions out of the county rates. If he holds two or more inquisitions at the same place at the same time, he is only entitled to one 9d. for each mile of dis tance; but this rule is not always very strictly observed in some counties. By 7 & 8 Vict. c. 92, the coroner may be paid travelling expenses, althoffgh in the exercise of his discretion he may have deemed it unnecessary to hold an inquest. The sum paid to coroners out of the county rates in 1834 was 15,6481. In 1838 and 1839 about 35,000 inquests were held in the two years. The act 1 Vict. c. 68, authorises the justices of the peace in England and Wales, at their quarter sessions, and the town councils of every borough which has a coroner's court at their quarterly meetings, to make a sche dule of the fees, allowances, and disburse ments which the coroner is allowed to pay (except the fees payable to medical witnesses, under 6 & 7 Will. IV. e 89), on holding any inquest. This schedule regulates for each county or division of a county the expenses to be paid to the constable for summoning witnesses, &IL There is usually a small sum allowed to each juryman, generally ls. 6d. in coun ties and la. in boroughs. The following are extracts from the schedule of fees settled by the magistrates of the county of Warwick: IV. c. 89, the coroner is empowered to order the attendance of legally qualified medical practitioners upon an inquisition of death, and to direct the performance of a post mortem examination ; and if the majority of the jury are dissatisfied with the first examination, they may call upon the coroner to summon a second medical witness, to perform a pest mortem exami nation, whether it has been performed before or not. The statute also author izes the coroner to make an order for the payment of a fee of one guinea to such witness, if he has not performed a post mo:-tern examination, and of two guineas if he has performed such examination. Medical practitioners are also liable to a penalty of 51. if they neglect to attend. By 1 Viet. c. 68, the fees of medical wit nesses are to be paid at once by the, coro ner, instead of by an order on the church wardens, as directed by 6 & 7 Wm. IV. 0. 89.
The coroner has also occasionally to exercise a ministerial office, where the sheriff is incapable of acting. Thus where an exception is taken to the sheriff on the ground of partiality or interest, the king's writs are directed to the coroner. This incident to the office of coroner points distinctly to their ancient character as ministerial officers of the crown. For his services when acting for the sheriff; he was not allowed any fees before the passing 7 & 8 Viet., but this statute se cures to him the same amount of fees as the sheriff would be entitled to.
By the Municipal Reform Act, 5 & 6 Will. IV. c. 76, § 62, the council of every borough, to which a separate court of quarter-sessions has been granted, is em powered to appoint a fit person, not being an alderman or councilor, to be coroner of the borough, who is to hold his office during good behaviour. The fees and general duties of borough coroners are the same as those of county coroners ; but the borough coroners are required by the statute to make an annual return to the secretary of state of all inquests of death taken by them. The number of inquests held in the boroughs of Manchester, Bir mingham, Liverpool, and Bristol in 1844, and their proportion to the population, was as follows:— The average cost of the coroner's court for the borough of Birmingham, averaged 899/. for the five years ending 31st of December, 1844; coroner's fees (205.) un der 25 Geo. II. c. 29, and 6s. 8d. under 1 Viet. c. 68, annually averaged 3371.4s. ; and the expense of 1416 inquests ave raged 31.3s. 51d. each. The disburse ments, independent of coroner's fees, ave 5611. 8s. 21d. a year. [DEODAND.] s Pleas of the Crown, book ii. cap. 9; Burn's Justice, tit. Coroner ; and Jervis's Practical Treatise on the Office and Duties of Coroners.)