Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Southern Death Investigation: Theorizing Coronial Work from the Global South

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and the Global South

Abstract

Taking Australia as its example, this chapter argues that Southern death investigation exhibits a unique constellation of features developed in response to law on the frontier, and colonial settler society in its stead, and is a jurisdiction more deserving of critical criminological reflection. Australian coronial law and practice has been strongly shaped by its deaths, some contentious, and which petition distinct socio-legal legacies relating to key criminological issues. This chapter sets out this history, highlighting the empirical work already underway illuminating Southern death investigation practices and connecting global coronial concerns. Its aim is twofold: firstly, to discover the contributions of Australian death investigation to theoretically thinking through fatality and its effects and, secondly, to bring death investigation finally, fully, into the global criminological project.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Lawyer Ian Freckelton is a noteworthy exception; see Freckelton and Ranson (2006).

  2. 2.

    Coroners Act 2008 (Vic), s 72(2); Coroners Act 1997 (ACT), s 52(4); Coroners Act 1993 (NT), ss 26(1)(b), 34(2); Coroners Act 1996 (WA), s 25(2); Coroners Act 2009 (NSW), s 82(1)-(2); Coroners Act 2003 (Qld), s 46(1)(a)–(c); Coroners Act 2003 (SA), s 25(2); Coroners Act 1995 (Tas), s 28(2) and (3).

  3. 3.

    For the New Zealand context, see Moore (2016).

  4. 4.

    R (Rotsztein) v HM Senior Coroner for Inner London North [2015] EWHC 2764 (Admin); R Goldstein v HM Coroner for Inner North London [2014] EWHC 3889.

  5. 5.

    For a similar discussion in the New Zealand context, see Selket et al. (2015).

References

  • Amnesty International. (2015). Chapter 3 The adequacy of post death investigations (Recommendations 6–40). In Review of the Implementation of RCIADIC. https://changetherecord.org.au/review-of-the-implementation-of-rciadic-may-2015.

  • Barnes, M., Kirkegaard, A., & Carpenter, B. (2014). Intake rigour: Ensuring only ‘reportable deaths’ become coroners’ cases. Journal of Law and Medicine, 21(3), 572–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bugeja, L., & Ranson, D. (2003). Coroners’ recommendations: Do they lead to positive public health outcomes? Journal of Law and Medicine, 10(4), 399–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burney, I. (2000). Bodies of Evidence: Medicine and the Politics of the English Inquest, 1830–1926. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burney, I., & Pemberton, N. (2016). Murder and the Making of English CSI. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butterworth, L. (2012). What good is a coroner? The transformation of the Queensland office of coroner 1859–1959. PhD thesis. Queensland, Australia: Griffith University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, B., & Tait, G. (2009). Health, death and Indigenous Australians in the coronial system. Aboriginal Australian Studies, 1, 29–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, B., Tait, G., Adkins, G., Barnes, M., Naylor, C., & Begum, N. (2011). Communicating with the coroner: How religion, culture, and family concerns may influence autopsy decision making. Death Studies, 35(4), 316–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2010.520506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, B., Tait, G., & Quadrelli, C. (2014). The body in grief: Death investigations, objections to autopsy, and the religious and cultural ‘other’. Religions, 5, 165–178. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel5010165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, B., Tait, G., Quadrelli, C., & Drayton, J. (2015a). Scrutinizing the other: Incapacity, suspicion and manipulation in a death investigation. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 36(2), 113–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2015.1008436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, B., Tait, G., Quadrelli, C., & Thompson, I. (2016). Investigating death: The emotional and cultural challenges for police. Policing & Society, 26(6), 698–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2015.1016024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, B., Tait, G., Stobbs, N., & Barnes, M. (2015b). When coroners care too much: Therapeutic jurisprudence and suicide findings. Journal of Judicial Administration, 24(3), 172–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrington, K., & Hogg, R. (2017). Deconstructing criminology’s origin stories. Asian Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-017-9248-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrington, K., Hogg, R., & Sozzo, M. (2016). Southern criminology. British Journal of Criminology, 56(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azv083.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chief Coroner England and Wales. (2013). Guidance No. 1 The Use of Post-Mortem Imaging (Adults), 4 September (amended 14 January 2016).

    Google Scholar 

  • Clements, C. (2006). Inquest into the Death of Mulrunji (Unreported). Queensland Coroner’s Court, 27 September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coles, D., & Shaw, H. (2012). Learning from Death in Custody Inquests: A New Framework for Action and Accountability. London: INQUEST.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunneen, C. (2006). Aboriginal deaths in custody: A continuing systematic abuse. Social Justice, 33(4), 37–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, G., Lindsey, R., Seabourne, G., & Griffiths-Baker, J. (2002). Experiencing inquests. Home Office Research Study 241. London: UK Home Office Research, Development & Statistics Directorate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finnane, M., & Richards, J. (2004). ‘You’ll get nothing out of it’? The inquest, police and Aboriginal deaths in colonial Queensland. Australian Historical Studies, 35(123), 84–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/10314610408596273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freckelton, I. (2006). Coronial law reform: The new wave. Journal of Law and Medicine, 14, 151–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freckelton, I. (2009). Opening a new page. Law Institute Journal, 83(6), 28–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freckelton, I., & McGregor, S. (2014). Coronial law and practice: A human rights perspective. Journal of Law and Medicine, 21, 584–601.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freckelton, I., & Ranson, D. (2006). Death Investigation and the Coroner’s Inquest. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, C., & Cook, L. (2011). Narrative verdicts and their impact on mortality statistics in England and Wales. Health Statistics Quarterly, 49, 81–100. https://doi.org/10.1057/hsq.2011.4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, M., Brown, D., & Hogg, R. (Eds.). (1988). Deaths in the Hands of the State. Redfern: Redfern Legal Centre Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacey, N. (2009). Historicising criminalisation: Conceptual and empirical issues. The Modern Law Review, 72(6), 936–960. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2009.00775.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, M. J., & Woodford, N. W. F. (2007). Objections to medico-legal autopsy—Recent developments in case law. Journal of Law and Medicine, 14(4), 463–468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, M. J., & Woodford, N. W. F. (2014). The role of post-mortem imaging in preliminary examinations under the Coroners Act 2008 (Vic): A forensic pathologist’s perspective. Journal of Law and Medicine, 21(4), 774–779.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merz, S., & Xavier Inda, J. (2016). Questioning racial prescriptions: An interview with Jonathan Xavier Inda. Theory, Culture and Society, 33(7–8), 338–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, J. (2016). Coroners’ Recommendations and the Promise of Saved Lives. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Morreau, P. (2006). Policing public nuisance: The legacy of recent events on Palm Island. Indigenous Law Bulletin, 6(28), 9–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettlebeck, A., & Foster, R. (2010). Colonial judiciaries, Aboriginal protection and South Australia’s policy of punishing ‘with exemplary severity’. Australian Historical Studies, 41(3), 319–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2010.493947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, J. G. (1981). The Coroners Act 1958: A General Review. Victoria: State of Victoria Law Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearse, J., & Daking, L. (2007). The National Coroners Information System: Contributing to death and injury prevention. Health Information Management Journal, 36(2), 54–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/183335830703600210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelfrey, W., & White Covington, M. (2007). Deaths in custody: The utility of data collected from county coroners. Criminal Justice Studies, 20(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786010701241358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queensland State Coroner’s Office. (2013). State Coroner’s Guidelines. Queensland: Queensland Courts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranson, D. (2010). The Coroners Act 2008 (Vic): A medical investigator’s perspective. Journal of Law and Medicine, 17(4), 487–492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riches, G., & Dawson, P. (1998). Spoiled memories: Problems of grief resolution in families bereaved through murder. Mortality, 3(2), 143–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/713685897.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. (1989). Report of the Inquiry into the Death of Mark Wayne Revell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. (1991). National Report, Vol 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott Bray, R. (2008). ‘Why this law?’: Vagaries of jurisdiction in coronial reform and Indigenous death prevention. Australian Indigenous Law Review, 12(2), 27–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott Bray, R. (2010). Death scene jurisprudence: The social life of coronial facts. Griffith Law Review, 19(3), 567–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott Bray, R. (2013). Paradoxical justice: The case of Ian Tomlinson. Journal of Law and Medicine, 21(2), 447–472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott Bray, R. (2016). Spotlight on coronial justice: The Hillsborough and Sydney Siege Inquests. Alternative Law Journal, 41(2), 146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott Bray, R., & Martin, G. (2016). Exploring fatal facts: Current issues in coronial law, policy and practice. International Journal of Law in Context, 12(2), 115–140. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174455231600010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scraton, P. (1999). Policing with contempt: The degrading of truth and denial of justice in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster. Journal of Law and Society, 26(3), 273–297. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6478.00126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scraton, P. (2002). Lost lives, hidden voices: ‘Truth’ and controversial deaths. Race & Class, 44(1), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396802441008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scraton, P., & Chadwick, K. (1987). In the Arms of the Law: Coroners’ Inquests and Deaths in Custody. London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selket, K., Glover, M., & Palmer, S. (2015). Normalising post-mortems—Whose cultural imperative? An indigenous view of New Zealand post-mortem policy. Kotuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 10(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/1177083X.2014.901233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. (2003). The Shipman Inquiry. Third Report: Death Certification and the Investigation of Deaths by Coroners (Cm 5854). Norwich: Crown Copyright.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, G., Kemp, C., Bugeja, L., Sewell, G., Pirkis, J., & Studdert, D. M. (2014). What happens to coroners’ recommendations for improving public health and safety? Organisational responses under a mandatory response regime in Victoria, Australia. BMC Public Health, 14, 732–739. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tait, G., & Carpenter, B. (2013). Suicide and therapeutic coroners: Inquests, governance and the grieving family. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 2(3), 92–104. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v2i3.123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tait, G., & Carpenter, B. (2016). The continuing implications of the ‘crime’ of suicide: A brief history of the present. International Journal of Law in Context, 12(2), 210–224. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744552316000021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tait, G., Carpenter, B., De Leo, D., & Tatz, C. (2015). Problems with the coronial determination of suicide. Mortality, 20(3), 233–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2015.1012489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tait, G., Carpenter, B., Quadrelli, C., & Barnes, M. (2016). Decision-making in a death investigation: Emotion, families and the coroner. Journal of Law and Medicine, 23, 571–581.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trabsky, M., & Baron, P. (2016). Negotiating grief and trauma in the coronial jurisdiction. Journal of Law and Medicine, 23(3), 582–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vines, P. (2000). Objections to post-mortem examination: Multiculturalism, psychology and legal decision-making. Journal of Law and Medicine, 7, 422–433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vines, P., & McFarlane, O. (2000). Investigating to save lives: Coroners and Aboriginal deaths in custody. Indigenous Law Bulletin, 4(27), 8–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter, T. (2005). Mediator deathwork. Death Studies, 29(5), 383–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481180590932508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warwick Inquest Group. (1985). The inquest as a theatre for police tragedy: The Davey Case. Journal of Law and Society, 12(1), 35–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watterson, R., Brown, P., & McKenzie, J. (2008). Coronial reform and the prevention of Indigenous death. Australian Indigenous Law Review, 12(2), 4–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, C. (1991). Inquests, inquiries and indictments: The official reception of death by disaster. Legal Studies, 11(1), 71–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-121X.1991.tb00623.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Cases

  • Atkinson v Morrow [2005a] QSC 92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson v Morrow [2005b] QCA 353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keown v Kahn [1999] 1 VR 69.

    Google Scholar 

  • R (Amin) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] 1 AC 653.R v Coroner for North Humberside and Scunthorpe; Ex parte Jamieson [1995] QB 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • R Goldstein v HM Coroner for Inner North London [2014] EWHC 3889.R (Middleton) v HM Coroner for West Somerset [2004] 2 AC 182.

    Google Scholar 

  • R (Rotsztein) v HM Senior Coroner for Inner London North [2015] EWHC 2764.

    Google Scholar 

Legislation

Human Rights Instruments

  • Council of Europe, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by Protocols Nos. 11 and 14 (4 November 1950), ETS 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (16 December 1966a).

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations General Assembly, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (16 December 1966b).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    Rebecca Scott Bray

  2. School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Belinda Carpenter

  3. State Coroner’s Court, Glebe, NSW, Australia

    Michael Barnes

Authors
  1. Rebecca Scott Bray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Belinda Carpenter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael Barnes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Kerry Carrington

  2. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Russell Hogg

  3. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    John Scott

  4. National University of Litoral Santa Fe, Santa Fe, Argentina

    Máximo Sozzo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Scott Bray, R., Carpenter, B., Barnes, M. (2018). Southern Death Investigation: Theorizing Coronial Work from the Global South. In: Carrington, K., Hogg, R., Scott, J., Sozzo, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65021-0_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65021-0_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-65020-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65021-0

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation