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Coroners Act 2006

Deaths to be reported and post-mortems - Release of bodies, and retention and return of body parts and bodily samples

44: Restriction on release if parts or samples to be retained

You could also call this:

"Coroners must not release a body if a pathologist needs to keep a part for investigation."

Illustration for Coroners Act 2006

If you are a coroner, you must not let a body be released if a pathologist wants to keep a body part or sample. You need to check if the pathologist is allowed to keep the part or sample under section 48(2) first. This is because the pathologist is doing a post-mortem under section 31 and wants to keep something from the body.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM377578.

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43: Restriction on release if no post-mortem directed, or

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Part 2Deaths to be reported and post-mortems
Release of bodies, and retention and return of body parts and bodily samples

44Restriction on release if parts or samples to be retained

  1. A coroner who directs a pathologist to perform a post-mortem of a body under section 31 and who knows the pathologist wishes to retain a body part or bodily sample under section 48(2) must not authorise the release of the body under section 42 without first having determined as soon as practicable whether the retention of the part or sample is permitted by section 48(2).