Coroner reform documents published

A number of policy areas in the Coroners Bill have been revised since the draft Bill was published for consultation in 2006. The Government has published a briefing note today that compares the proposals in the draft Bill with the revised Bill where significant policy changes have been made.

Some of the changes have been announced already, such as the addition of provisions to strengthen the public protection role of coroners, and a return to the current position on the reporting of inquests. Other changes, such as the scope of the appeals system, are announced for the first time in the briefing note.

The briefing note is available on the Ministry of Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/draft-coroners.htm

The briefing note refers to the removal from the Bill of a provision on restricting the reporting of some inquests.

Instead, the Government has been working with the Press Complaints Commission to produce a short discussion paper on how the Press Code might be refined to ensure there is appropriate emphasis on the need for sensitive reporting of coroners' cases. The discussion paper also considers how the Code, and the role of the Commission, can be better brought to the attention of families.

The discussion paper has also been made available today on the Ministry of Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/sensitive-reporting-coroners.htm

Please note that the deadline for comments on the discussion paper is 27 June 2008. The details of how to respond are on the final page of the discussion paper.