Court etiquette
Court is a formal environment and, like many other formal places, there are some general rules that must be followed. It may be useful to inform your client of the following matters if they are unfamiliar with the court environment:
- neat casual or semi-formal dress is appropriate for court
- turn your mobile phone and any other electronic devices off before you enter a courtroom
- when you enter a courtroom, bow slightly towards the coroner if the court is in session. It is also customary to bow toward the coroner when you leave
- if you address the coroner, refer to them as ‘Your Honour’
- do not talk in the back of the courtroom. All evidence is important and it can be difficult for the coroner to hear clearly when there is background noise. Unless you are giving evidence or on your feet at the time, you are always welcome to leave the courtroom to have a discussion. Legal practitioners should seek leave to be excused temporarily from the bar table if they need to leave the room while court is in session.
A day in the coroner's court
Every day is different in the coroner’s court. Sometimes there is an inquest (a formal court hearing) but most of the time, there is not. Sometimes there are several sudden deaths from the night before and sometimes there are none. Being flexible and adaptable to whatever the day brings is a part of working in the coroner’s court. So what does an “average” weekday look like?
- The coroners’ associates arrive at about 7:00 am and begin to assess the deaths from the night before. They check things such as whether:
- a formal identification has been conducted
- the correct senior next of kin has been notified
- the senior next of kin has been asked if they object to an autopsy.
- At the Royal Hobart Hospital, the State Forensic Pathologist commences the first autopsy for the day at approximately 8:30 am. Other pathologists at the Royal Hobart Hospital and Launceston General Hospital also begin any autopsies early in the day. There is a limit to how many autopsies can be completed each day and some may be postponed to the next weekday.
- The coroners, division manager and administrative officers arrive at work shortly before 9:00 am.
- During the day, coroners’ associates and administrative officers receive enquiries from the public, doctors, police, funeral directors and government offices. These may be phone calls or emails. A lot of time and effort goes into ensuring that the families and friends of deceased persons have their questions answered and are aware of what is happening in investigations.
- The coroners research legal matters, read investigation files and liaise with the coroners’ associates to make sure that current investigations progress. There are numerous in-chambers findings produced by coroners, which are findings in matters where there is no inquest. Coroners spend a lot of time reviewing files, making notes and writing findings.
- The coroners’ associates spend a lot of time co-ordinating investigations and gathering evidence for the coronial record. They follow up evidence, making sure that all the documents the coroner requires are provided and that everyone is doing their bit to keep investigations moving forward.
- There are always inquests scheduled in the future. Coroners and their associates plan when the inquests will be held, organise the evidence and arrange witnesses.
- Administrative officers have a wide range of roles and tasks to attend to during the day. These include managing records, writing correspondence, archiving files, uploading findings to the coroner’s court web site and coding cases onto NCIS (the National Coronial Information System).
- The manager of the coronial division oversees the operation of the office, answering staff questions and co-ordinating all the different people involved in the coroner’s court. They manage legislative and policy reform, attend meetings with stakeholders and assist the coroners with any difficult issues that arise during the day.
- At the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and at other law firms, counsel assisting read coronial files and conduct legal research to prepare for their upcoming inquests.
- For cases involving medical settings, often specialist medical reports and research are required. Two part-time medical researchers spend their time carefully assessing medical records, scans, reports, statements and other documents. Once their review of the records is complete, they write detailed reports for the coroner on the care provided and the outcomes of treatment given.
Out in the field, coroners’ officers (police) gather evidence. They attend the scene of most deaths and collect statements from families, friends, doctors and members of the public to assess whether a particular death is reportable to the coroner. If they decide that a death is reportable, they fill out a form and contact the coroners’ associates to start the investigation. The mortuary ambulance then collects the deceased person and takes them to the mortuary.