By Vernon Daley, Parliamentary ReporterJAMAICA LABOUR Party (JLP) Senator, Shirley Williams, moved a resolution in the Senate last Friday calling on the Government to set up a broad-based committee to review the Coroner's Act to make it more relevant to the needs of the society.
She said the committee should comprise members of the Government, Opposition, attorneys, medical practitioners and civil society. Senator Williams argued that neither the Coroner's Act, which was enacted over a century ago, nor any other piece of legislation deals with procedures relating to matters such as post-mortems or crime scene investigations.
According to the resolution, the committee would "formulate and guide the relevant legislation governing principles and rules relating to the medico-legal post-mortem procedures and crime scene investigations involving violent or unnatural death, sudden death or death by unknown cause."
Senator Williams contended that an overhaul of the legislative framework was necessary because the state has a vital interest in knowing, as precisely as possible, the cause of all deaths so they can be fully investigated.
In 1999, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced at a People's National Party (PNP) annual conference that families of deceased persons would be able to have an independent pathologist observe the post-mortem conducted on relatives who die under questionable circumstances.
The announcement was made following controversy over the Government's initial refusal to allow the family of Michael Gayle a mentally ill man who was beaten to death by soldiers to bring in an independent medical practitioner to observer his post-mortem.
At that time, the Government said it would be holding wide-ranging discussions to develop legislation to ensure that the rights of the family would be captured in the law. However, this has not been done.
Senator Williams argued that three years have elapsed and therefore there was now need for urgent action.
The resolution said the Government should ensure that the proposed committee "act expeditiously in formulating its recommendations so that the required amendments to the Coroner's Act may be implemented in a timely manner."
