Ministry of Justice
Website: Ministry of Justice
From 9 May 2007, the responsibilities of the Department for Constitutional Affairs have transferred to the Ministry of Justice.
- Charter for bereaved people who come into contact with a reformed coroner system - Draft
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The Coroners and Justice Bill provides for a new Charter for Bereaved People. The charter will be statutory guidance and bring together many of the services bereaved people will receive from coroners in a reformed system.
A draft version of the charter was published for consultation alongside the draft Coroners Bill in June 2006. The draft charter has been revised in the light of the responses received.
(Ministry of Justice, 14 January 2009)
- Coroners and Justice Bill - Draft
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The Coroners and Justice Bill aims to deliver more effective, transparent and responsive justice and coroner services for victims, witnesses, bereaved families and the wider public.
The Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 14 January. It includes measures to:
- reform and clarify the law on homicide, in particular to the partial defences
- update the language of the offence of assisting suicide
- establish a new Sentencing Council for England and Wales, with a strengthened remit to promote consistency in sentencing practice
- create a new national coroner service, led by a new chief coroner
- create a new system of secondary certification of deaths that are not referred to the coroner, covering burials and cremations
- enable the courts to pass an indeterminate sentence for public protection for certain terrorist offences
- prevent criminals from profiting from publications about their crimes
- amend the Data Protection Act to strengthen the Information Commissioner's inspection powers and improve the sharing of information
- re-enact the provisions of the emergency Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Act 2008 so that the courts may continue to grant anonymity to vulnerable or intimidated witnesses where this is consistent with a defendant's right to a fair trial
- allow the courts to grant Investigative Witness Anonymity Orders in certain gun and knife crime cases
- extend the use of special measures in criminal proceedings, such as live video links and screens around the witness box, so vulnerable and intimidated witnesses give their best evidence.
(Ministry of Justice, 14 January 2009)
- Sensitive reporting in coroners' courts
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Proposals for coroner reform aim to improve the way the coroner system meets the needs of the bereaved while also serving the public interest. This is a paper summarising the response to stakeholder comments received between 2006 and 2008 on the issue of sensitive reporting in coroner courts.
(Ministry of Justice, 14 January 2009)
