On 21/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 21/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 21/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 25/06/2010.
PART VI
INQUIRIES INTO DEATH
27.
—(1) The purpose of an inquiry into the death of any person is to inquire into the cause of and circumstances connected with the death and, for that purpose, the proceedings and evidence at the inquiry must be directed to ascertaining the following matters in so far as they may be ascertained:
(a)
the identity of the deceased; and
(b)
how, when and where the deceased came by his death.
(2) A Coroner at an inquiry shall not frame a finding in such a way as to determine any question of criminal, civil or disciplinary liability but shall not be inhibited in the discharge of his functions by any likelihood of liability being inferred from facts that he determines or recommendations that he makes.
(3) At the conclusion of the inquiry, the Coroner shall record his findings as to the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1).
28.
—(1) A pre-inquiry review may be held by a Coroner before the commencement of an inquiry.
(2) The purpose of a pre-inquiry review is to settle the following matters with a view to expediting the inquiry:
(a)
the filing of the investigation papers and any post-mortem examination report or special examination report made under section 20 for the inquiry;
(b)
any issues of fact or law for the inquiry;
(c)
the witnesses to be called to the inquiry;
(d)
the filing of any conditioned statements to be admitted in evidence in the inquiry;
(e)
the date of the inquiry; and
(f)
any other application to be made for the inquiry.
(3) A pre-inquiry review and any application made to the Coroner at the pre-inquiry review may be heard by live video link, or by such other means as the State Coroner may approve.
29.
—(1) A Coroner who is to hold a pre-inquiry review or an inquiry may cause a notice to be served on any properly interested person.
(2) Any such notice shall state the date, time and place of the pre-inquiry review or inquiry and shall be served on any properly interested person within a reasonable period.
30.
—(1) A Coroner shall have and exercise all the powers of a Magistrate’s Court with regard to —
(a)
summoning and compelling the attendance of witnesses and requiring them to give evidence; and
(b)
the production of any document or thing,
at any inquiry held by him.
(2) Every summons to appear, warrant of arrest or summons to produce shall be in writing signed by the Coroner and shall bear the seal of the court.
(3) Such summons to appear or summons to produce shall ordinarily be served by a police officer, but the Coroner may, if he sees fit, direct it to be served by some other person.
(4) The provisions of section 38, Part VI and section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 shall apply, with the necessary modifications, in relation to summonses to appear, warrants of arrest and summonses to produce issued by a Coroner.
31.
—(1) An inquiry shall be held in open court, unless a Coroner is of the opinion that it is in the interests of justice, propriety, public order or public security, or there is other sufficient reason, that the public be excluded from the inquiry or any part of the inquiry.
(2) Whenever an inquiry or part thereof is not held in open court, the Coroner shall report his reasons for not so holding it to the Public Prosecutor.
32.
—(1) A Coroner may, if he considers it appropriate to do so, appoint not more than 2 assessors with skill and experience in the matter to which the inquiry relates to assist him in the hearing of any inquiry.
(2) Any assessor appointed under subsection (1) may sit with the Coroner in the hearing of the inquiry and has the power to advise but not to determine any matter relating to the inquiry.
(3) The remuneration of any assessor sitting in an inquiry shall be payable out of moneys provided by Parliament, at such rate as may be prescribed.
33.
—(1) Notwithstanding anything in any written law, a written statement made by any person summoned as a witness in any inquiry is admissible as evidence at the inquiry to the same extent and to the same effect as oral evidence by the person, if the following conditions are satisfied:
(a)
the statement appears to be signed by the person who made it; and
(b)
the statement contains a declaration by the person to the effect that it is true to the best of his knowledge and belief and that he made the statement knowing that, if it were given in evidence, he would be liable to prosecution if he stated in it anything he knew to be false or did not believe to be true.
(2) The following provisions also apply to any written statement given in evidence under this section:
(a)
if the statement is made by a person below the age of 21 years, it shall state his age;
(b)
if it is made by a person who cannot read it, it shall be read to him before he signs it and shall be accompanied by a declaration by the person who read the statement to him, stating that it was so read; and
(c)
if it refers to any other document as an exhibit, it shall be accompanied by a copy of that document or by information that will enable the Coroner to inspect that document or a copy of it.
(3) Where a written statement made by any witness is admitted in evidence under this section in an inquiry (referred to in this Act as a conditioned statement), the Coroner may call the person to give evidence.
34.
—(1) The conditioned statement, if any, of a witness in an inquiry shall be read over to him.
(2) If the witness denies the correctness of any part of the conditioned statement, the Coroner may, instead of correcting the conditioned statement, make a memorandum on it of the objection made to it by the witness and shall add such remarks as the Coroner thinks necessary.
(3) If the witness does not understand English, the conditioned statement shall be interpreted for him into the language in which it was given or in a language which the witness understands.
35.
—(1) Any properly interested person, and any other person who has the permission of the Coroner to do so, may examine a witness in person or by counsel.
(2) Where at any inquiry the report of the pathologist who has conducted or supervised a post-mortem examination of the body or the report of a person who has made a special examination under section 19(2)(b) is received in evidence, any person referred to in subsection (1) who desires to examine the maker of that report may require the Coroner to summon that person as a witness, and the Coroner shall do so.
36.
—(1) The evidence given in any inquiry shall be recorded by the Coroner in writing or in any other suitable form of recording whereby the evidence can be reduced to a readable form.
(2) Evidence recorded in writing or, if it is not recorded in writing, the transcript of the evidence recorded, must be in English and signed by the Coroner, and shall form part of the record of the inquiry.
(3) Evidence may be recorded in the form of question and answer or in the form of a narrative, as the Coroner thinks fit.
37. A Coroner holding an inquiry is not bound by the rules of evidence and may conduct an inquiry in any manner he reasonably thinks fit.
38. A Coroner holding an inquiry in any place may adjourn the inquiry to another day and order the adjourned inquiry to be held in the same or any other place.
39.
—(1) If, before the conclusion of an inquiry by a Coroner, any person is charged with any offence under —
(a)
Chapter XVI of the Penal Code (Cap. 224);
(b)
(c)
Part IV of the Workplace Safety and Health Act (Cap. 354A),
in relation to an act which caused or could have caused the death which is the subject of the inquiry, the Coroner shall adjourn the inquiry until after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
(2) Where a Coroner resumes an inquiry after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings referred to in subsection (1), he shall continue with the inquiry from the stage at which it was adjourned, provided that at the resumed inquiry no finding shall be made which is inconsistent with the result of those criminal proceedings.
(3) If, having regard to the result of the criminal proceedings referred to in subsection (1), there has been a finding in those proceedings as to the cause of and circumstances connected with the death, and the Coroner decides not to resume the inquiry, he shall —
(a)
endorse his record and the certificate required under section 42 accordingly; and
(b)
send a copy of the certificate referred to in section 42 each to the Public Prosecutor and the Commissioner of Police.
(4) Where an inquiry is adjourned under subsection (1), it shall be the duty of —
(a)
the District Judge or Magistrate before whom the criminal proceedings referred to in subsection (1) are concluded; or
(b)
the Registrar of the Supreme Court, in the case of any criminal proceedings before the High Court or the Court of Appeal,
to inform the Coroner responsible for holding the inquiry of the result of the criminal proceedings in relation to the subject of the inquiry.
(5) In this section, “criminal proceedings” means the proceedings before —
(a)
a Magistrate at any committal proceeding;
(b)
any court by which a person is tried; or
(c)
any court before which an appeal from the decision of the court referred to in paragraph (b) is heard,
and criminal proceedings shall not be deemed to be concluded until no further appeal can be made in the course of them.
40.
—(1) If, before the conclusion of an inquiry by a Coroner, a commission of inquiry or committee of inquiry is appointed under the Inquiries Act (Cap. 139A) to inquire into any matter relating to the cause of or circumstances connected with the death which is the subject of the Coroner’s inquiry, the Coroner shall adjourn his inquiry until after the conclusion of the inquiry by that commission or committee.
(2) Where a Coroner resumes his inquiry after the conclusion of the inquiry by the commission or committee referred to in subsection (1), he shall continue with his inquiry from the stage at which it was adjourned, and may have regard to any report or finding by the commission or committee which the Coroner considers relevant to his inquiry.
(3) If, having regard to the report of the inquiry by the commission or committee referred to in subsection (1), there has been a finding in that inquiry as to the cause of and circumstances connected with the death, and the Coroner decides not to resume his inquiry, he shall —
(a)
endorse his record and the certificate required under section 42 accordingly; and
(b)
send a copy of the certificate referred to in section 42 each to the Public Prosecutor and the Commissioner of Police.
41. If a Coroner —
(a)
who has viewed a body or has authorised the release of the body is unable to hold the inquiry himself;
(b)
is at any time unable to complete the inquiry himself; or
(c)
is unable to re-open an inquiry previously concluded by himself when so directed by the Public Prosecutor under section 26(3),
another Coroner may hold, continue or re-open the inquiry, as the case may be, and may proceed as if he had viewed the body or recorded all the evidence at the inquiry himself.
42.
—(1) Where an inquiry is held into the death of any person, the Coroner shall complete and sign a certificate setting out the cause of death as found at the inquiry and shall, within 48 hours after the conclusion of the inquiry, forward a copy of the certificate to —
(a)
the Registrar-General, together with such other particulars as are required by the Registrar-General for the purpose of registering the death under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act (Cap. 267); and
(b)
the Public Prosecutor.
(2) In any case where a reportable death has occurred in Singapore and the Coroner has decided not to hold an inquiry into the death under section 25(2), the Coroner shall, after considering the results of the investigations into the death —
(a)
complete and sign a certificate setting out the cause of death based on the evidence before him; and
(b)
within 48 hours after signing the certificate, forward a copy thereof to the Registrar-General and the Public Prosecutor in accordance with subsection (1).
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, a Coroner may issue a certificate under this section in the absence of a body.
43. At the conclusion of any inquiry, including an adjourned inquiry which is not resumed, the Coroner shall, at the request of the Public Prosecutor, deliver to him —
(a)
the transcript of the evidence recorded and conditioned statements admitted at the inquiry;
(b)
any exhibit produced in evidence; and
(c)
a list signed by the Coroner of all exhibits produced in evidence.