Coroners and Justice Act 2009

  1. Introduction

  2. Summary

  3. Background

    1. Part 1 - Coroners etc

    2. Part 2 - Criminal offences

    3. Part 3 - Criminal evidence, investigations and procedure

    4. Part 4 – Sentencing

    5. Part 5 - Miscellaneous criminal justice provisions

    6. Part 7 - Criminal memoirs etc

    7. Part 8 - Data Protection Act 1998

  4. Territorial Extent

  5. The Act

    1. Commentary on Sections

      1. Part 1 - Coroners etc

        1. Chapter 1: Investigations into deaths

          1. Section 1: Duty to investigate certain deaths

          2. Section 2: Request for other coroner to conduct investigation

          3. Section 3: Direction for other coroner to conduct investigation

          4. Section 4: Discontinuance where cause of death revealed by post-mortem examination

          5. Section 5: Matters to be ascertained

          6. Section 6: Duty to hold inquest

          7. Section 7: Whether jury required

          8. Section 8: Assembling a jury

          9. Section 9: Determinations and findings by jury

          10. Section 10: Determinations and findings to be made

          11. Section 11 and Schedule 1: Duty or power to suspend or resume investigations

            1. Paragraph 1: Suspension of investigation where certain criminal charges may be brought

            2. Paragraph 2: Suspension where certain criminal proceedings are brought

            3. Paragraphs 3 and 4: Suspension pending inquiry under Inquiries Act 2005

            4. Paragraph 5: General power to suspend

            5. Paragraph 6: Effect of suspension

            6. Paragraph 7: Resumption of investigation suspended under paragraph 1

            7. Paragraph 8: Resumption of investigation suspended under paragraph 2

            8. Paragraph 9: Resumption of investigation suspended under paragraph 3

            9. Paragraph 10: Resumption of investigation under paragraph 5

            10. Paragraph 11: Supplemental

          12. Section 12: Investigation in Scotland

          13. Section 13: Investigation in England and Wales despite body being brought to Scotland

          14. Section 14: Post-mortem examinations

          15. Section 15: Power to remove body

          16. Section 16:  Investigations lasting more than a year

          17. Section 17:  Monitoring of and training for investigations into deaths of service personnel

        2. Chapter 2:  Notification, certification and registration of deaths

          1. Section 18: Notification by medical practitioner to senior coroner

          2. Section 19: Medical examiners

          3. Section 20: Medical certificate of cause of death

          4. Section 21: National Medical Examiner

        3. Chapter 3: Coroner areas, appointments etc

          1. Section 22 and Schedule 2: Coroner areas

          2. Section 23 and Schedule 3: Appointment etc of senior coroners, area coroners and assistant coroners

            1. Part 1 – Appointment of senior, area and assistant coroners

            2. Part 2 – Qualifications of senior, area and assistant coroners

            3. Part 3 – Vacancies, and functions of area and assistant coroners

            4. Part 4 - Terms of office of senior, area and assistant coroners

          3. Section 24: Provision of staff and accommodation

        4. Chapter 4:  Investigations concerning Treasure

          1. Section 25 and Schedule 4:  Coroner for Treasure and Assistant Coroners for Treasure

            1. Part 1 – Appointment, qualifications and terms of office of Coroner for Treasure

            2. Part 2 – Designation and remuneration of Assistant Coroners for Treasure

            3. Part 3 – Miscellaneous

          2. Section 26:  Investigations concerning treasure

          3. Section 27:  Inquests concerning treasure

          4. Section 28:  Outcome of investigations concerning treasure

          5. Section 29:  Exception to duty to investigate

          6. Section 30: Duty to notify Coroner for Treasure etc of acquisition of certain objects

          7. Section 31:  Code of practice under the Treasure Act 1996

        5. Chapter 5: Further provisions to do with investigations and deaths

          1. Section 32 and Schedule 5: Powers of coroners

            1. Paragraph 1 and 2: Power to require evidence to be given or produced

            2. Paragraphs 3 to 5: Power of entry, search and seizure

            3. Paragraph 6: Exhumation of body for examination

            4. Paragraph 7: Action to prevent other deaths

          2. Section 33 and Schedule 6: Offences

          3. Section 34 and Schedule 7: Allowances, fees and expenses

        6. Chapter 6:  Governance etc

          1. Section 35 and Schedule 8: Chief Coroner and Deputy Chief Coroners

          2. Section 36:  Reports and advice to the Lord Chancellor from the Chief Coroner

          3. Section 37:  Regulations about training

          4. Section 38 and Schedule 9: Medical Adviser to the Chief Coroner

          5. Section 39: Inspection of coroner system

          6. Section 40: Appeals to the Chief Coroner

          7. Section 41 and Schedule 10: Investigation by Chief Coroner or Coroner for Treasure or by judge, former judge or former coroner

          8. Section 42:  Guidance by the Lord Chancellor

        7. Chapter 7: Supplementary

          1. Section 43: Coroners regulations

          2. Section 44: Treasure regulations

          3. Section 45: Coroners rules

          4. Section 46: Abolition of the office of coroner of the Queen’s household

          5. Section 47: “Interested person”

          6. Section 48: Interpretation: general

          7. Section 49 and Schedule 11:  Amendments to the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959

          8. Section 50:  Amendments to the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976

          9. Section 51: Public funding for advocacy at certain inquests

      2. Part 2 - Criminal offences

        1. Chapter 1: Murder, infanticide and suicide

          1. Section 52:  Persons suffering from diminished responsibility (England and Wales)

          2. Section 53:  Persons suffering from diminished responsibility (Northern Ireland)

          3. Section 54:  Partial defence to murder: loss of control

          4. Section 55:  Meaning of “qualifying trigger”

          5. Section 56:  Abolition of common law defence of provocation

          6. Section 57:  Infanticide (England and Wales)

          7. Section 58:  Infanticide (Northern Ireland)

          8. Section 59:  Encouraging or assisting suicide: England and Wales

          9. Section 60:  Encouraging or assisting suicide (Northern Ireland)

          10. Section 61 and Schedule 12: Encouraging or assisting suicide: providers of information society services

        2. Chapter 2:  Images of children

          1. Section 62:  Possession of prohibited images of children

          2. Section 63:  Exclusion of classified film, etc

          3. Section 64:  Defences

          4. Section 65:  Meaning of “image” and “child”

          5. Section 66:  Penalties

          6. Section 67:  Entry, search, seizure and forfeiture

          7. Section 68 and Schedule 13: Special rules relating to providers of information society services

          8. Section 69: Indecent pseudo-photographs of children: marriage etc

        3. Chapter 3:  Other offences

          1. Section 70:  Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes

          2. Section 71:  Slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour

          3. Section 72:  Conspiracy

          4. Section 73:  Abolition of common law libel offences etc

      3. Part 3 - Criminal evidence, investigations and procedure

        1. Chapter 1: Anonymity in investigations

          1. Section 74: Qualifying offences

          2. Section 75: Qualifying criminal investigations

          3. Section 76: Investigation anonymity orders

          4. Section 77: Applications

          5. Section 78: Conditions for making order

          6. Section 79: Appeal against refusal of order

          7. Section 80: Discharge of order

          8. Section 81: Delegation of functions

          9. Section 82: Public interest immunity

          10. Section 83: Review

          11. Section 84: Application to armed forces

          12. Section 85: Interpretation of this Chapter

        2. Chapter 2: Anonymity of witnesses

          1. Section 86: Witness anonymity orders

          2. Section 87: Applications

          3. Section 88: Conditions for making order

          4. Section 89: Relevant considerations

          5. Section 90: Warning to jury

          6. Section 91: Discharge or variation of order

          7. Section 92: Discharge or variation after proceedings

          8. Section 93: Discharge or variation by appeal court

          9. Section 94: Special provisions for service courts

          10. Section 95:  Public interest immunity

          11. Section 96: Power to make orders under the 2008 Act

          12. Section 97: Interpretation of this Chapter

        3. Chapter 3: Vulnerable and intimidated witnesses

          1. Section 98: Eligibility for special measures: age of child witnesses

          2. Section 99: Eligibility for special measures: offences involving weapons

          3. Section 100: Special measures directions for child witnesses

          4. Section 101: Special provisions relating to sexual offences

          5. Section 102: Evidence by live link: presence of supporter

          6. Section 103: Video recorded evidence in chief: supplementary testimony

          7. Section 104: Examination of accused through intermediary

          8. Section 105:  Age of child complainant

        4. Chapter 4:  Live links

          1. Section 106:  Directions to attend through live link

          2. Section 107:  Answering to live link bail

          3. Section 108:  Searches of persons answering to live link bail

          4. Section 109:  Use of live link in certain enforcement hearings

          5. Section 110:  Direction of registrar for appeal hearing by live link

        5. Chapter 5:  Miscellaneous

          1. Section 111:  Effect of admission of video recording

          2. Section 112:  Admissibility of evidence of previous complaints

          3. Section 113:  Powers in respect of offenders who assist investigations and prosecutions

          4. Section 114:  Bail: assessment of risk of committing an offence causing injury

          5. Section 115:  Bail decisions in murder cases to be made by a Crown Court judge

          6. Section 116:  Indictment of offenders

          7. Section 117: Detention of persons under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000

      4. Part 4 - Sentencing

        1. Chapter 1: Sentencing Council for England and Wales

          1. Section 118 and Schedule 15:  Sentencing Council for England and Wales

          2. Section 119:  Annual Report

          3. Section 120:  Sentencing guidelines

          4. Section 121: Sentencing ranges

          5. Section 122:  Allocation guidelines

          6. Section 123: Preparation or revision of guidelines in urgent cases

          7. Section 124:  Proposals by Lord Chancellor or Court of Appeal

          8. Section 125:  Sentencing Guidelines: duty of court

          9. Section 126: Determination of tariffs etc

          10. Section 127: Resource implications of guidelines

          11. Section 128: Monitoring

          12. Section 129:  Promoting awareness

          13. Section 130:  Resources: effect of sentencing practice

          14. Section 131:  Resources: effect of factors not related to sentencing

          15. Section  132: Duty to assess impact of policy and legislative proposals

          16. Section 133: Assistance by Lord Chancellor

          17. Section 134: Entrenchment of Lord Chancellor’s functions

          18. Section 135: Abolition of existing sentencing bodies

          19. Section 136: Interpretation of this Chapter

        2. Chapter 2:  Other provisions relating to sentencing

          1. Section 137 and Schedule 16:  Extension of driving disqualification

          2. Section 138:  Dangerous offenders: terrorism offences (England and Wales)

          3. Section 139:  Dangerous offenders: terrorism offences (Northern Ireland)

          4. Section 140: Appeals against certain confiscation orders (England and Wales)

          5. Section 141: Appeals against certain confiscation orders (Northern Ireland)

      5. Part 5 - Miscellaneous criminal justice provisions

        1. Section 142:  Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses

        2. Section 143:  Implementation of E-Commerce and Services directives: penalties

        3. Section 144 and Schedule 17:  Treatment of convictions in other member States etc

          1. Admission of evidence as to bad character of a defendant

          2. Bail

          3. Decision as to allocation

          4. Seriousness

          5. Required custodial sentences for certain offences

            1. Restriction on imposing custodial sentence or service detention

          6. Young offenders: referral conditions

          7. Proving of foreign convictions before courts

        4. Section 145:  Transfer to Parole Board of functions under the Criminal Justice Act 1991

        5. Section 146:  Retention of knives surrendered or seized: England and Wales

        6. Section 147:  Retention of knives surrendered or seized: Northern Ireland

        7. Section 148:  Security in tribunal buildings

      6. Part 6 - Legal aid and other payments for legal services

        1. Section 149:  Community Legal Service: pilot schemes

        2. Section 150:  Excluded services: help in connection with business matters

        3. Section 151:  Criminal Defence Service: information requests

        4. Section 152 and Schedule 18: Criminal Defence Service: enforcement of order to pay cost of representation

        5. Section 153:  Statutory instruments relating to the Legal Services Commission

        6. Section 154:  Damages-based agreements relating to employment matters

      7. Part 7 - Criminal Memoirs etc

        1. Section 155: Exploitation proceeds orders

        2. Section 156:  Qualifying offenders

        3. Section 157: Qualifying offenders: service offences

        4. Section 158:  Qualifying offenders: supplementary

        5. Section 159:  Relevant offences

        6. Section 160: Deriving a benefit

        7. Section 161:  Applications

        8. Section 162: Determination of applications

        9. Section 163:  Limits on recoverable amount

        10. Section 164:  The available amount

        11. Section 165:  Property

        12. Section 166: Effect of conviction being quashed

        13. Section 167:  Powers of court on repeat applications

        14. Section 168:  Additional proceeds reporting orders

        15. Section 169 and Schedule 19:  Exploitation proceeds investigations

        16. Section 170: Functions of Serious Organised Crime Agency

        17. Section 171:  Limitation

        18. Section 172: Interpretation of Part 7

      8. Part 8 - Data Protection Act 1998

        1. Section 173: Assessment notices

        2. Section 174:  Data-sharing code of practice

        3. Section 175 and Schedule 20: Further amendments of the Data Protection Act 1998

          1. Data Controllers’ Registration

          2. Assessment notices

          3. Power to require information

            1. Restriction on the use of information

            2. Monetary penalties: restriction on matters to be taken into account

            3. Warrant for entry and inspection

      9. Part 9 - General

        1. Section 176:  Orders, regulations and rules

        2. Section 177 and Schedules 21 and 22:  Consequential etc. amendments and transitional and saving provisions

        3. Schedule 21:  Minor and consequential amendments

          1. Part 1 - Coroners

          2. Part 2 – Murder and Suicide

          3. Part 9 - Disqualification for Driving

          4. Part 10 - Miscellaneous

        4. Schedule 22: Transitory, transitional and saving provisions

        5. Section 178 and Schedule 23:  Repeals

        6. Section 180:  Effect of amendments to provisions applied for the purposes of service law.

        7. Section 181: Extent

        8. Section 182:  Commencement

  6. Commencement

  7. Hansard References

  8. ANNEX AGLOSSARY