Coronial Investigations

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): My question is for the Minister for Health. Will the minister now review the Health Care Act to ensure that the Coroners Court receives all the relevant information, so that coroners can fulfil their task in investigating deaths?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:04): The situation with the Coroner—and I think it is very important that people think about this—is that the Coroner has jurisdiction under the Coroners Act to investigate deaths in a certain set of well-defined circumstances and has a duty to make a report, where the Coroner is able to do so, into the cause or causes of death.

The Coroner does this by first of all making a decision about which matters will be the subject of intensive investigation by the Coroner and which matters will not, and that is a judicial discretion exercise by the Coroner. In respect of each particular matter, the Coroner then, in a sense through his staff and through the assistance of SAPOL, goes about the process of conducting an investigation into that matter, collecting witness statements and so forth. It is true that sometimes the interval of time between the occurrence of the event and the final determination of that matter can be some time.

Ms Chapman: He can't get information from the adverse events committee. Let him answer it; he knows about the committee.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I am attempting to be helpful about the way the Coroner works but—

The SPEAKER: As always.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Indeed. There may be a supplementary question coming in this, but I am quite enjoying talking about the Coroner.

Ms Chapman: If you sit down, I will ask him and he can give us a sensible answer.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I will in a moment, but can I just finish the exciting news I was sharing with you? What happens is that the—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Give us the history of how they developed the Coroners Court.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: That is quite interesting, actually. The Coroner has an unusual jurisdiction because it is the one aspect of our judicial system which picks up the essentially Roman law concept of an inquisitorial model. Indeed, in this respect it is not dissimilar to the Scottish courts, which are not the same as the courts of the United Kingdom because the Scottish courts, of course having a different background and indeed a Roman law background in some respects, have a different concept.

That famous case of Donoghue v Stevenson, which actually arose in Scotland, was originally dealt with in that—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Donoghue v Stevenson.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I would be interested to hear that also.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I can talk about that one as well if I wish. Mr Speaker, as you would recall, Mr Donoghue or Mrs Stevenson was shocked when, on pouring some ginger beer over her ice-cream, the partially decomposed body of a snail—

The SPEAKER: Attorney, you must know which was the plaintiff and which was the defendant, surely.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Indeed. Here is another interesting fact, and I think the member for Bright might be able to help me with this: but in Scotland certainly at the time the plaintiff was known as the pursuer, not the plaintiff.

Mr Gardner: What year was it?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: 1932 appeal cases.

Ms Chapman: 18—go back a bit. You are about a century out.

The SPEAKER: And who is your neighbour?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Indeed. Lord Aitken, I believe—

The SPEAKER: Atkin.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —delivered the famous judgement—dictum, indeed—and it is about the foreseeability of harm to one's neighbour and how one should take reasonable care. But none of those things afflicts the Coroner because he has a completely different jurisdiction, which is to inquire into the causes of death.

The SPEAKER: Much-anticipated supplementary.