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Coroners Act 2006

Inquiries into causes and circumstances of deaths - Inquiries

71: Restrictions on making public details of self-inflicted deaths

You could also call this:

"Rules for talking about self-inflicted deaths in New Zealand"

Illustration for Coroners Act 2006

If you are talking about a death that happened in New Zealand, you must be careful what you say. The death must have happened in New Zealand or on a special aircraft or ship, and it must be a death where the person did it to themselves. You cannot tell people how the person died or any details that might give away how they died, unless you have permission. You also cannot say that the death was a suicide, unless the coroner has finished their investigation and said it was a suicide. However, you can say that the death is suspected to be a suicide. When we talk about a self-inflicted death, we do not include deaths that happened because of assisted dying under the End of Life Choice Act 2019. This is because the End of Life Choice Act 2019 has its own rules about what you can and cannot say about assisted dying deaths.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM377809.

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70: Coroner may decide not to open or resume postponed or adjourned inquiry, or

"The coroner can stop an inquiry from happening or restarting if certain conditions are met."

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71A: Chief coroner may grant exemption from restrictions in section 71, or

"Chief Coroner can allow you to share details about self-inflicted deaths despite usual rules"

Part 3Inquiries into causes and circumstances of deaths
Inquiries

71Restrictions on making public details of self-inflicted deaths

  1. This section applies in respect of a death if—

  2. the death occurred in New Zealand or on or from an aircraft or a ship specified in section 14(1); and
    1. the death was self-inflicted or there is reasonable cause to suspect that the death was self-inflicted.

      1. No person may, unless the person is granted an exemption under section 71A or has permission under section 72, make public—

      2. the method or any suspected method of the self-inflicted death; or
        1. any detail (for example, the place of death) that suggests the method or any suspected method of the self-inflicted death; or
          1. a description of the death as a suicide.

            1. Despite subsection (2)(c),—

            2. a person may make public that the death is a suspected suicide; and
              1. a person may describe the death as a suicide if the coroner has completed a certificate of findings under section 94 stating that the death was a suicide.

                1. In this section, self-inflicted, in relation to a death, does not include a death that was the result of assisted dying under the End of Life Choice Act 2019 (see section 36 of that Act, which restricts making public details of assisted dying deaths).

                Notes
                • Section 71: replaced, on , by section 46 of the Coroners Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 29).
                • Section 71(4): inserted, on , by section 41 of the End of Life Choice Act 2019 (2019 No 67).