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Coroners' Bill fears voiced by Newspaper Society

Proposals to give coroners new powers to impose reporting restrictions at inquests in England and Wales have been opposed by the Newspaper Society, in a submission to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.

The society, which represents the regional newspaper industry, has voiced concerns over parts of the the draft Coroners Bill, which would allow coroners to ban the publication of the names or anything that might identify the deceased.

It says there is no need for coroners to be given additional powers to restrict reporting, as coroners’ courts are already governed by the law of contempt.

And it says that the lack of any media rights to challenge identification bans in a formal way, in the draft bill, must be addressed.

It claims the new power would not just severely curtail local newspaper reports of coroners’ investigations and inquests, but could also outlaw the publication of death notices, in memoriam tributes and notifications of funeral services in local newspapers, the erection of a tombstone bearing the deceased’s name and even the entry upon the death register.

Its submission said: “It could severely curtail any news report of the death or follow up stories about important issues and matters of public interest arising from it in any media.

“The clause as drafted also gives the senior coroner power to make blanket bans on any publication of the names or other identifying material of the deceased’s entire immediate family and associates.

“This is absurd and a wholly unjustifiable restraint upon freedom of expression.”

The submission also addresses proposals to give coroners the power to close inquests to the press and public and to seize confidential journalistic material, and calls for the Government to impose a statutory duty on coroners to give notice of the time and place of inquests.