Coroner urges action on witnesses

The Dublin City Coroner has called on the Government to introduce promised new legislation to compel witnesses to attend inquests and to increase the penalties for those who refuse to attend.

Dr Brian Farrell made the appeal after adjourning another inquest yesterday after a witness refused to attend.

He was forced to adjourn the inquest of the drug-related death of Ms Carolyn Inez Kelly after hearing that a material witness, who is currently in custody, was refusing to attend.

Under present legislation, the penalty for not complying with a summons to attend an inquest is a €6.35 fine.

Frustration is mounting among the State's coroners with the delay in introducing legislation to update the Coroners Act 1962. The Department of Justice has promised to introduce amending legislation in 2003, but last night a spokeswoman was unable to say when this would be published.

Dr Farrell said the need for the legislation was "now urgent" and would be "manifestly in the public interest". Reform was necessary to protect the integrity of the inquest and to ensure that violent and unnatural deaths were properly investigated.

Last year, the coroner complained about "glaring anomalies" in the Act, which meant that convicted killer Mark Nash could not be compelled to give evidence at the inquest into the deaths of two women murdered in Grangegorman in 1997. This inquest had already been adjourned over 20 times because of Nash's refusal to attend.

In another case, it took the Coroner's Court six years to compel Ms Lynda Lee to attend the inquest into the gangland killing of her husband Gerard in 1996. Lengthy legal wrangling ended only last year when the Supreme Court ordered Ms Lee to attend.

According to Dr Farrell, inquests into hospital deaths are being hampered by further restrictions.

Three inquests held this year have been prevented from calling more than one medical witness because of a legal restriction identified by the Supreme Court in 2001.

"At these inquests, the families complained that there had been a denial of justice in that it was not possible to have a proper hearing into the deaths," he said.

Sources say the difficulties in processing cases is causing major difficulties for grief-stricken families struggling to come to terms with the death of a loved one.

Coroners are seeking the power to apply to the High Court for an order compelling witnesses to attend and produce documents. They also want the penalties for failure to respond to a summons to appear at an inquest increased on summary conviction. Restrictions on medical witnesses should also be removed, they say.

The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has indicated he sees new legislation as vital in assuring the public of the continuing high quality of the coroner's service, and as the first element in an overall reform and modernisation package.