KEY POINTS:
The Acting Chief Coroner is proposing a law change to address the increasing number of "body snatching" cases in recent times, giving coroners exclusive jurisdiction over custody of all bodies.
Dr Wallace Bain said he had consulted with Maori leaders and come up with a "ready made solution"
to rights to custody of a body after death.
His comments follow several cases of body snatching.
In the most recent case Ivy May Ngahooro was on Friday buried in Hamilton as she asked in her will, after her body was earlier taken to a marae outside Taumarunui by family members who wanted to bury her there.
The snatching of Ms Ngahooro's body followed that of John Takamore in August last year and of Tina Marshall-McMenamin in December.
Last year cabinet minister Jim Anderton said the law needed to be clarified and had asked Justice Minister Annette King to refer the problem to the Law Commission.
Dr Bain said today a simple amendment to the Coroners Act would provide a solution.
He said when deaths were reported to the coroner they had exclusive jurisdiction and right to custody until he or she authorised release of the body.
In those cases only the coroner had the statutory power to give directions about the removal, viewing or touching of a body.
But currently not all deaths had to be reported to the coroner.
Dr Bain said in the recent cases the deaths were natural or from illness, so a doctor could provide a death certificate.
"They are not then required to be reported to a coroner, although in some cases are."
Dr Bain was writing to the Minister of Justice to express his concerns about the growing number of these cases, and the stress they were causing to families and the public.
He was recommending a simple amendment to the Coroners Act to assist in the speedy resolution of family disputes over where a body is to be buried.
Dr Bain stressed the disputes were not only with Maori death but predominantly were.
He said Maori leaders he had consulted were "very much in favour" of coroners taking control.
He said debate between families was a custom in Maori death going back centuries and was dealt with in accordance with their customs and protocols.
"What is new is the intervention of the media into this practice."
Dr Bain said coroners were highly trained judicial officers.
They dealt with death and bodies every day and had particular expertise in dealing with families in times of grief and with different races, customs and cultures.
Dr Bain said the Act should be changed so in the case of all deaths coroners had the exclusive jurisdiction over custody of the bodies.
He proposed that any member of the public, funeral director or police officer should be able to report a death to a coroner at any time, especially when there appeared to be a dispute over custody or burial.
"In that event the coroner could immediately make urgent inquiries and issue a direction exercising jurisdiction over and the right to take custody of the body," Dr Bain said.
"This would be an order from the Coroners Court and must be followed strictly."
Dr Bain said that in the recent cases this would mean that the coroner would control access to the body until any disputes were settled.
An urgent family mediation could be held with the coroner to try to reach a resolution.
"All matters can then be considered, including wills and the deceased's wishes, along with particular customs and practices in death."
If no agreement was reached the coroner could than make the final determination.
He said it was demeaning to see private family matters and cultural practices about death being dragged through the public media in the manner they had been.
Coroners were the best people to deal with these emotional issues quickly and a small amendment to the law would enable matters to be resolved with dignity, he said.
- NZPA
