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Coroners Act 2006

Deaths to be reported and post-mortems - Post-mortems

41: High Court may order post-mortem in certain circumstances

You could also call this:

"The High Court can order a special exam of a body in some situations."

Illustration for Coroners Act 2006

You can ask the High Court to order a post-mortem in certain situations. The Solicitor-General can apply to the High Court for this order. The High Court can make this order if a post-mortem is necessary or desirable and a coroner has not ordered one. You need to follow the rules if the High Court orders a post-mortem. A pathologist must do the post-mortem if the Solicitor-General directs them to. The Solicitor-General can give directions about moving the body for the post-mortem. Some rules apply to the post-mortem, such as rules about moving the body and who can attend. These rules are the same as if a coroner had ordered the post-mortem. The Solicitor-General must follow these rules when directing a post-mortem under section 31. Other rules also apply, such as rules about giving notice and seizing evidence. These rules are the same as if a coroner had directed the post-mortem, as stated in section 23, section 37, sections 38 and 39, section 40, and section 131.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM377574.

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"The coroner can ask a person's doctor for a report about their health before they died."

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Part 2Deaths to be reported and post-mortems
Post-mortems

41High Court may order post-mortem in certain circumstances

  1. The Solicitor-General may apply to the High Court for an order that a pathologist be directed under section 31 by the Solicitor-General to perform a post-mortem of a body.

  2. On an application under subsection (1), the High Court may order that a pathologist be directed under section 31 by the Solicitor-General to perform a post-mortem of a body, but only if the High Court is satisfied that—

  3. the performance of a post-mortem of the body is necessary or desirable for the purposes of this Act; and
    1. the coroner who might have directed its performance has failed or refused to do so.

      1. A pathologist must perform a post-mortem of a body if the pathologist is, in accordance with an order of the High Court under subsection (2), directed under section 31 by the Solicitor-General to perform the post-mortem of the body.

      2. Despite section 42(1) (release of bodies), if an order is made under subsection (2),—

      3. the Solicitor-General may, for the purposes of the post-mortem concerned, give any directions he or she thinks fit relating to the removal of the body concerned; and
        1. until the authorised post-mortem has been completed, no coroner may—
          1. give any directions under section 20 relating to the removal of the body; or
            1. authorise the release of the body under section 42.

            2. The following sections apply to a direction under subsection (4)(a) as if it were a direction by a coroner under section 20:

            3. sections 128 to 130 (warrant for removal of body):
              1. section 131 (power to seize evidence relevant to post-mortem):
                1. section 136 (non-compliance with direction about removal of body).

                  1. The following sections apply to a post-mortem ordered to be directed to be performed under this section as if the Solicitor-General were a coroner who had directed the pathologist concerned to perform it:

                  2. section 23 (coroner must give interested parties notice of significant matters):
                    1. section 37 (post-mortem may be performed early in some cases):
                      1. sections 38 and 39 (who may attend post-mortem):
                        1. section 40 (coroner may require person's doctor to report):
                          1. section 131 (power to seize evidence relevant to post-mortem).

                            Compare
                            Notes
                            • Section 41(6)(a): amended, on , by section 27 of the Coroners Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 29).