MAGISTRATES (CORONERS POWERS) ORDINANCE

MAGISTRATES (CORONERS POWERS) ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 14.

MAGISTRATES (CORONERS POWERS).

To abolish the office of coroner, and to make Provision, for
the performance of the duties thereof by magistrates.

[9th june, 1888.]

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Magistrates
(Coroners Powers) Ordinance.

2. The Governor in Council may make rules for
regulating the practice and procedure at or in connexion
with inquiries and post mortem examinations.

3.The duties hitherto performed by the coroner shall
be performed by the magistrates or any of them as the
Governor may direct, (hereinafter called the magistrate),
who shall have, in relation to such duties, all the powers
and privileges which a coroner had by law at the com
mencement of this Ordinance. [4

4. (1) The Governor may by order under his hand,
set apart suitable places for the reception of dead bodies
for the purpose of post mortem examination, and may make
regulations for the management of such places.

(2) The magistrate may order the removal of any dead
body to and from such place for the purpose of any post
external examination, and may order the cost of such
removal to be defrayed from public funds. [5

5. (1) Whenever a dead body is brought to a hos-
pital, the medical officer in charge of the hospital, or such
other Government medical officer or registered medical
practitioner as he may depute, shall make a preliminary
external examination of the body and report in writing to
the magistrate, who may, if lie considers it necessary, order
an autopsy.

(2) The medical officer who makes the autopsy shall
further report to the magistrate on the cause of death. [6





6. (1) Subject to the provisions of sections 14 and
16, and to any rules under section 2, whenever any person
dies suddenly, or by accident or violence, or under sus-
picious circumstances, or whenever any dead body is found
within the Colony or is brought into the Colony, the
magistrate maym if he considers an inquiry to be necessary,
inquire into the cause of death of such person without a
jury, or, if he thinks fit, with a jury of three persons as
hereinafter provided, and, in his discretion, with or without
view of the body, and may determine the cause of death.

(2) Such inquiry may be held notwithstanding that the
cause of death did not arise within the Colony. [7

7. (1) Whenever judgment of death is executed on
any offender, the magistrate shall, within twenty-four hours
after the execution (or forty-eight hours if a general holiday
intervenes in respect of which the magistrates are not
exempted from the operation of the Holidays Ordinance),
with a jury of three persons as hereinafter provided, inquire
into and ascertain the identity of the body and the cause
of death, and whether judgment of death was duly executed
on the offender.

(2) Whenever any prisoner dies in prison, the magis-
trate shall, with a jury of three persons as hereinafter
as soon as practicable inquire into the cause of
death.

(3) At any inquiry under this section the magistrate
shall view the body : but it shall not be necessary for the
jury to view the body unless it appears to the magistrate
or to the greater number of the jurors expedient that the
jury should do so. [8

8. (1) Whenever the magistrate requires a jury under
section 6 or 7, the Registrar of the Supreme Court
shall, on receipt of a requisition from the magistrate, draw
either from the common jurors ballot box or from the
special jurors ballot box, as the magistrate may direct, the
names of six jurors to form a panel, and shall transmit
such panel to the magistrate.

(2) Ali the provisions of the jury Ordinance, shall
apply, as far as may be, to such drawing, in the same





manner as if the jurors were required for a jury in the
Supreme Court. [9

9. (1) The magistrate's clerk shall, before the hold-
ing of any inquiry at which a jury may be necessary, issue
forms of summons, according to Form I in the Schedule,
requiring the attendance of the jurors drawn.

(2) Every such summons shall be personally, served on
or left at the usual place of abode of the juror so sum-
moned.

(3) Any juror who fails, without reasonable excuse,
to attend at such inquiry or at any adjournment thereof
shall be liable to a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars,
which may be recovered summarily, but the magistrate
before whom the juror is required to attend may remit such
fine, if he sees fit.

(4) The magistrate shall select the three jurors required
from the panel by ballot, and may, if necessary, require
any bystander to serve as a juror, but no officer of the
prison or prisoner comfined therein shall serve as a juror
in any such inquiry. [10

10. The jury may be sworn or declared according to
Form 2 or 3 in the Schedule, and the oath may be adminis
tered to or the declaration made by two or more jurors
at once. [11

11. (I) Whenever in inquiry is made with a jury, it
shall be the duty of the magistrate making such inquiry
to record in writing the finding of the jury and it shall
be the duty of the jurors to sign the same.

(2) In any case under section 7 it shall be the duty
of the magistrate to furnish to the Commissioner of Prisons
a copy of the finding of the jury, signed by him.

(3) At every inquiry without a jury the magistrate
shall record his finding on the evidence. [12

12. (I) The magistrate may adjourn any inquiry, and
may, if he considers it necessary, use the same jury for a
second or subsequent inquiry.





(2) The magistrate shall, in the absence of reason to
the contrary, adjourn all inquiry if, before the close of the
inquiry, any person has been clharged before him or some
other magistrate with the murder, manslaughter or. infan-
ticide of the person whose death is the subject of the
inquiry.

(3) Whenever the magistrate resumes an inquiry which
has bcen adjourned in accordance with the provisions of
Subsection (1) Or (2), and the jury has been discharged
and a new jury empanelled, the magistrate shall proceed
in all respects as if the inquiry had not previously been
begun, and the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply
accordingly as the resumed inquiry were a fresh inquiry
Provided that the deposition of a witness who was examined
at the original. inquiry and is dead or unable. to be present
at the resumed inquiry may be read as evidence at the
resumed inquiry.

(4) If the inquiry resumed as aforesaid is an inquiry
by the magistrate without a jury, or. with the jury em-
pallelled at tile original inquiry, the magistrate may proceed
at the resumed inquiry as if the inquiry had not been
adjourned. [13

13.(I) (a) The magistrate shall have in relation to
the inquiries provided for in sections 6 and 7, the
same powers in all respects as he possesses or may
possess in relation to ally other proceedings taken
before him, and may, at the conclusion of any
such Inquiry, issue his warrant in Form 5 in the
Schedule, for the apprehension and committal to
prison of any person to be brought before him or
some other magistrate to be prosecuted according
to law, and he may bind over any witness who
shall have been examined at the inquiry in a re-
cognizance with or without surety to appear and
give evidence in such prosecution: Provided that
no person who has been charged on indictment
may be charged with any offence of which he could
have been convicted on the indictment.
(b)Every person who has been committed to prison
as aforesaid may at any time require from the
magistrate's clerk copies of the depositions on





which such committal has been made, on payment
of the like fees as are by law payable for copies
of depositions under subsection (4) of section 86
of the Magistrates Ordinance.
(c)When the magistrate has committed any person to
prison under the provisions of this section any
magistrate may, if lie thinks fit, admit such person
to bail in the same cases and in the same inanner
as is provided in section ioo of the Magistrates
Ordinance, and thereupon such person, if in cus-
tody, shall be discharged therefrom.
(2) The magistrate shall have power to make such
order as may be necessary for the purposes of any inquiry
which he is empowered by this Ordinance to hold, or with
regard to the disposal of any, body which may be the
subject of such inquiry. [14

14. The Attorney General may require the magistrate
to hold an inquiry into the cause of and the circumstances
connected with the death of any person. [16

15. Whenever any inquiry as to the cause of a death
has been held by the magistrate without a jury, the
irate shall forthwith return the depositions taken by hini
on such inquiry to the Attorney General, together with a
certificate in Form 4 in the Schedule duly filled up and
signed by him. [17

16. Where the proceedings at any inquiry have been
closed by the magistrate and it appears to the Attorney
General that further investigation is necessary, the Attorney
General may require the magistrate to reopen such inquiry
and make further investigation, and thereupon the magis-
trate shall reopen the inquiry and make further investiga-
tion and thereafter proceed in the same manner as if the
proceedings at such inquiry had not been closed. [18

17. The following fees shall be payable to any medical
practitioner, not being an officer of the Government, who
has made an autopsy in pursuance of an order from the
magistrate under section 6, or who has attended any inquiry
on summons, as a medical witness-
(a) for an autopsy .............$50.
(b) for attendance to give evidence $25. [20






SCHEDULE.

FORM 1. [s. 9.]
Summons to juror.
Mr. A.B.
You are hereby summoned to appear as a juror at an inquiry
to be held by a magistrate concerning the death of one C.D. at

in this Colony on day, the day of
' 19 , at O'clock m., and there to
attend until you shall be discharged.
Dated the day of 19

(Signed) E.F., Magistrate's clerk.

Note-The penalty for disobedience hereto is any sum not ex-
ceeding two hundred and fifty dollars. Personal service of this
summons is not necessary tD subject the juror summoned to this
penalty.

FORM 2. [s. 10.]
Oath for juror.
I will diligently inquire and true presentment make of all such
matters and things as shall be here given me in charge, on behalf
of Our Sovereign Lord the King touching the death of
now lying dead [of whose body I am to have the view]. I will
present no man for hatred, malice, or ill will; nor spare any through
fear, favour, or affection; but a true verdict give according to the
evidence and the best of my skill and knowledge: So help me God.

FORM 3. [s. 10.]
Declaration for juror.
I do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare that I will diligently
inquire and true presentment make of all such matters and things
as shall be here given me in charge, on behalf of Our Sovereign Lord
the King, touching the death of now lying dead [of
whose body I am to have the view]. I will present no man for
hatred, malice, or ill will; nor spare any through fear, favour, or
afTection; but a true verdict give according to the evidence and the
best of my skill and knowledge.

FORM 4. [s. 15.]

Certificate of magistrate.
I hereby certify that on the day of 19
I held, under the provisions of the Magistrates (Coroners Powers)
Ordinance, (Chapter 14 of the Revised Edition), and inquiry as to the
cause of a death in and that the following
particulars were then disclosed-
1. Name of deceased.
2. Residence and occupation.
3. Where found, and when, and in what circumstances.





4. Date of death.
5. Cause of death.
6. The names of the persons last seen in the company of the
deceased.
7. Any suspicious circumstances which point to any person or
persons as having caused the death.

Note-The following are the names, residences, and callings of
the witnesses examined-
I have issued my warrant for the arrest of on
a charge of
Dated the day of 19
(Signed) Magistrate.

To be filled up in case the death is supposed to have been
caused by improper means.

FORm 5. [s. 13.]
Warrant of commitment.
To each and all of the police officers of Hong Kong and to the
Commissioner of Prisons.
Whereas at proceedings taken before me, a magistrate of the
said Colony, under the provisions of the Magistrates (Coroners
Powers) Ordinance, (Chapter 14 of the Revised Edition), with respect
to the death of A.B. and duly taken and held this day
of ' 19 , at , it appears to me that
sufficient grounds are disclosed for charging C.D. of
with the offence of , an offence punishable under
section of the Ordinance.
These are, therefore, to command you, the said police officers,
in His Majesty's name forthwith to convey the said C.D. to a prison,
and there to deliver him to the Commissioner of Prisons, with this
precept; and you, the said Commissioner, to receive the said C.D.
into your custody in a prison, and there safely keep him until he
shall be brought before me or such other magistrate as may then
be sitting at the magistrate's court at to be prosecuted for
the said offence according to law on the day of
19 , or on such other day not being more than seven days there-
after as may be directed by the magistrate before whom he is charged
or until he shall earlier be thence discharged by due course of law,
unless you shall otherwise be ordered in the meantime.
Dated the day of 19

[L.S.] (Signed) Magistrate.
Originally 17 of 1888. Fraser. 5 of 1888. 9 of 1950. 22 of 1950. Short title. Rules. [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 26.] Performance of duties of coroner. Place for post mortem examination. 29 & 30 Vict. C. 90, s. 28; 38 & 39 Vict. C. 55, s. 143. Preliminary examination of body. Inquiry into cause of sudden or violent death, etc. executions and deaths in prison. [cf. 31 & 32 Vict. C. 24, s. 5.] (Cap. 149.) [cf. 50 & 51 Vict. C. 71, s. 3.] Panel for jury. (Cap. 3.) [s. 8 cont.] Summoning of jurors. Schedule. Form 1. 22 of 1950, Schedule. Procedure with jury. Schedule. Forms 2 and 3. Recording of finding. Adjournment of inquiry. [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 20 (1).] [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 20 (3).] Powers of magistrate. Schedule. Form 5. [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 20 (2).] [s. 13 cont.] (Cap. 227.) [cf. Cap. 174, s. 17.] Power to Attorney General to require inquiry. Forwarding depositions. Schedule. Form 4. Power to Attorney General to direct further investigation in certain cases. Fees for medical evidence. 9 of 1950, Schedule. [Schedule -- cont.]

Originally 17 of 1888. Fraser. 5 of 1888. 9 of 1950. 22 of 1950. Short title. Rules. [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 26.] Performance of duties of coroner. Place for post mortem examination. 29 & 30 Vict. C. 90, s. 28; 38 & 39 Vict. C. 55, s. 143. Preliminary examination of body. Inquiry into cause of sudden or violent death, etc. executions and deaths in prison. [cf. 31 & 32 Vict. C. 24, s. 5.] (Cap. 149.) [cf. 50 & 51 Vict. C. 71, s. 3.] Panel for jury. (Cap. 3.) [s. 8 cont.] Summoning of jurors. Schedule. Form 1. 22 of 1950, Schedule. Procedure with jury. Schedule. Forms 2 and 3. Recording of finding. Adjournment of inquiry. [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 20 (1).] [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 20 (3).] Powers of magistrate. Schedule. Form 5. [cf. 16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 59, s. 20 (2).] [s. 13 cont.] (Cap. 227.) [cf. Cap. 174, s. 17.] Power to Attorney General to require inquiry. Forwarding depositions. Schedule. Form 4. Power to Attorney General to direct further investigation in certain cases. Fees for medical evidence. 9 of 1950, Schedule. [Schedule -- cont.]

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