Main description:

Death Investigation and the Coroner's Inquest is a major text on coroners' law, medicine and practice. It is the first such work with international, cross-disciplinary, policy, historical and literary perspectives. The book focuses on law and practice in Australia and New Zealand but draws upon law, practice and scholarly writing from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States, as well as illustrative cases and experience from the Asia-Pacific region. The book bridges the divide between traditional legal texts dealing with inquests and with appears from coroners' decisions, and those forensic medical and scientific texts dealing with pathology, autopsy practice and other technical aspects of death investigation. Death Investigation and the Coroner's Inquest addresses homicides, fatalities in workplaces, hospitals and prisons, and deaths from mass disasters and genocidal massacres. It analyses the contemporary role of the coroner and how the institution of coronership is likely to evolve in the post-Shipman era.
It will be useful to coroners, lawyers, medical practitioners, police officers and others interested in death investigation and the operation and parameters of coroners' inquests.

Contents:

Death Investigation from an Historical Perspective Death Investigation from an Internations Perspective Death Investigation: Operational Rules Deaths and Other Reported Incidents Death Investigation Powers of the Coroner Death Scene Investigation Specialist Death Scenes and Investigations International Disaster Management: Mass Fatalities The Role of the Forensic Pathologist\ The Autopsy: Medical Issues Autopsies: Legal and Cultural Issues Identification of Human Remains Specialist Medical and Scientific Investigations The Interpretation of Injuries and Medical Findings The Medical Report and the Giving of Evidence Advocacy Inquest Hearings Inquest Findings, Recommendations and Reports Appeals, Reviews and Reopening of Inquests Death Investigation and Coroners: The Future Appendix 1 Coronial Death Investigation: Operational Activities Appendix 2 Examples of coroners' findings and recommendations Appendix 3 A coroner's information booklet Appendix 4 The Australian National Coroners Information System Appendix 5 Medical report and pro forma checklists Appendix 6 Body Charts Appendix 7 Police death notification form for the coroner Appendix 8 Quebec Code of Ethics for Coroners Appendix 9 Practice direction: Guidelines for expert witnesses in proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia