Coroners Act 2006

Inquiries into causes and circumstances of deaths - Inquests

80: Decision to hold inquest

You could also call this:

"When to Hold an Inquest into Someone's Death"

When a coroner looks into a death, they must decide if they need to hold an inquest. You need to know that a coroner considers some important things when making this decision. They think about if the person died while in official care, and if a doctor would have expected the death. A coroner also thinks about if an inquest would help them find out more about the death. This could be by letting people look at the evidence or share new information. They can look at evidence and hear from people who have not been part of the inquiry yet. If a coroner decides not to hold an inquest, they must follow the rules set out in section 77. This section does not apply to an associate coroner, except in the cases mentioned in section 77A(1)(a). You can find more information about health information in section 22B of the Health Act 1956.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM377823.

This page was last updated on 12 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Public healthCrime and justice > Police and safety

79: Admission and verification of evidence, or

"The coroner decides what evidence to accept at an inquiry."

81: Date, etc, and notice of inquest, or

"When and where an inquest happens, and who gets told about it"

Part 3Inquiries into causes and circumstances of deaths
Inquests

80Decision to hold inquest

A coroner conducting an inquiry into a death must decide whether to hold an inquest for the purposes of the inquiry.
Without limiting subsection (1), a coroner deciding whether to hold an inquest into a death must consider whether either, or both, of the following applies:
the death was a death in official custody or care and the death would not reasonably have been expected by a doctor who had access to the person’s health information (as defined in section 22B of the Health Act 1956):
an inquest would assist the inquiry into the death by providing an opportunity for persons who have not been involved in the inquiry to—
1. scrutinise evidence considered by the coroner as part of the inquiry; or
2. offer new evidence in respect of the death.

A coroner who decides under this section not to hold an inquest must comply with section 77.
This section does not apply to an associate coroner except to the extent set out in section 77A(1)(a).

Notes

Section 80: replaced, on 21 July 2016, by section 49 of the Coroners Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 29).
Section 80(4): inserted, on 27 November 2025, by section 32 of the Statutes Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 74).