A manual of medical jurisprudence / by Alfred Swaine Taylor.

Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of medical jurisprudence / by Alfred Swaine Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    31/872 (page 17)
    n O. - OFFICE OF CORONER; u. Notice from a registrar of deaths that no cause has been assigned in a particular case, or that there has been a rapid death after a short illness. The conclusion to which experience leads in reference to these inquiries is, that the system affords no certainty for the detec- tion of crime; that it affords no protection to those who are wrongly charged with crime ; and lastly, that in some cases it screens a criminal by a verdict based upon an imperfect inquiry, in which the important medical facts are either not understood or are misinterpreted by the jury. Many persons who occupy the office of coroner are neither medi- cally nor judicially qualified for the proper performance of the duties of the office. The system of electing a man to hold such an office as this (one demanding special medical knowledge of the causes of death, and good legal knowledge of the law of evidence) by freeholders of the lowest degree, is so intrinsically absurd, that it is quite wonderful^ how, with improved civilization, it has maintained its ground in sucli a country as England. The election of a Lord Chancellor, of the Judges of our Courts of Law, or of County Court Judges, might be with equal reason left in the hands of voters of this class—men who have no knowledge of the duties of the office, or of the skill and learn- ing required of one who is really competent to fill it. The election of a good and capable person as coroner, is therefore a matter of pure accident. No preliminary test of ability or capacity is required. In Scotland, the office of coroner does not exist; but in place of this, there is an officer named Procurator Fiscal, generally a skilled solicitor, nominated by competent authority, and not elected by scot and lot voters. The general order issued to these officers by the Lord Advocate, enjoins that in cases where a dead body is discovered, the Procurator Fiscal shall obtain a medical report of the cause of death ; and in cases of persons found dead, the body is generally inspected for this purpose. This, however, is at the option of the appointed office 1, the instruction being in these words j—( Wherever, in his opinion, a written medical report is necessary for the due consideration of the case, he, the Procurator, shall obtain such a report from a duly qualified medical practitioner.’ The usual practice in England is to select the nearest medical practitioner, whether he has had any ex- perience or not, and often to trust an important and delicate patholo- gical inquiry in the hands of one who probably has never before made an inspection. w^n<: er V3* present system coroners are empowered by the Medical Witnesses Act (C and 7 William IV. c. 89) to issue an order for the attendance of any legally qualified practitioner, ‘ at the time in actual practice in or near the place where the death has happened.’ A fee of two guineas is the maximum allowed for making a kst-mortem ex- amination, and, if considered necessary by the jury, a chemical analysis of the stomach and intestines. A penalty of five pounds fs attached p disobedience of this order, except for reasonable cause Eumscy has correc ly represented the unsatisfactory position in which medical men aie placed by such an arrangement. He observes : ‘ It is no dis-