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New Lagos State Coroner Law now in Force

A new law to regulate the Coroner’s system is now in force in Lagos State. The new law titled “A Law to Establish The Lagos State Coroners’ System, Regulate the Process of Death Investigation and for other Connected Matters” repeals the former law that was largely dormant and un-enforced. Under the new law, the Coroner’s system is now “under the control and administration of the Chief Coroner of the State” (section 1(2) and the Chief Coroner will now be a High Court Judge, to be appointed by the Chief Judge.

Highlights of the law include:

There will now be a compulsory, independent inquiry into every instance of death occurring under a specific set of circumstances. These include, but is not limited to: when ever there is a reasonable cause to suspect that the cause of death is unknown; the death is sudden, unexpected or unnatural; violent or suspicious; due to a medical intervention, negligence or misconduct, or from a known or unknown cause while a person is in custody of any type. Sections 5 (1), 14 (1). Relatives of a deceased person can institute proceedings for an inquest before a Coroner, who has all the powers of a court of law to summon any person (whether a police officer or any such law enforcement personnel) to the inquest. Other benefits include the following:

1. There shall be in every designated district of Lagos State a Coroners Court to which deaths in unnatural or suspicious circumstances shall be reported by any person whatsoever.
   
2. The Coroner is empowered to issue a warrant for the examination of the body even though the person has been buried where a post-mortem examination has not been conducted on such a body. Section 17 (1)
   
3. The State ( Lagos State) shall bear the cost of the coroner inquest. Section 13 (1)
   
4. It is mandatory on every Coroner to hold an inquest over every death that occurs in custody (whether police or other law enforcement custody). Section 18
   
5. Even where the corpse of a victim is lost, hidden or unidentifiably mutilated, a Coroner inquest can be held over such death and all persons suspected to have relevant information in that regard are compellable to attend and testify at the inquest. Section 21, 32 (1) and 32
   
6. Every person testifying in an inquest shall not be arrested nor his/her liberty tampered with in respect of such participation irrespective of who is incriminated by such testimony. Section 37
   
7. The Coroner has the power to order the arrest of any person who, from the evidence made out at the inquest is suspected to be responsible for the death of the deceased. Section 39
   
8. The Coroner’s verdict shall declare who the deceased was, the circumstances of death and, where evidence in support is found, the perpetrator of death. Section 40

 

The new law also imposes upon every citizen in the state some obligations, chief among which are;

1. The obligation to inform any of the established agencies for the report of death under the law of any death occurring within the district and known to him; and failing which he shall be liable to either three months imprisonment or an option of N20,000 as fine. Section 48 (2)
2. Any person who chemically preserves, dismembers of disposes a corpse without due authorization from the Coroner shall be liable to 15 years imprisonment without option of fine. Section 48 (1)
3. Any who takes a corpse (in case of deaths occurring in circumstances enumerated in section 14) to a mortuary other than that designated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the district shall be liable to three years imprisonment while the institution receiving the corpse shall either be shot down or liable to pay a fine of N500, 000. Section 48 (6).

 

Access to Justice has, since 2001, been working to help states put their Coroner’s Law back to work and we have been implementing programmes aimed at reforming the system, and building popular awareness around it, and advocating its use to reach the truth about deaths that come about from police action. The new law came about after wide stakeholder effort, that included key officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice (D.P.P’s office, Dept. of Legislative Drafting, other Ministry of Justice officials), officials from the Ministry of Health, including the current Commissioner of Health, Dr. Jide Idris, Prof, Obafunwa, C.M.D, of the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, Police representatives, and Magistrates who all participated in a Committee established by former Attorney General of Lagos State Yemi Osinbajo, to reform the Lagos State coroner’s.

 

Lagos State is the Nigeria’s commercial and industrial nerve centre (with an estimated high population of 17. 5 Million). The need to reform the Coroners’ law in the state, as a way to strengthen respect for the right to life, became imperative following the high incidence of sudden, unnatural and violent deaths, as well as extra judicial killings by policemen and vigilante groups in the state. Statistics available from Lagos State Ministry of Health state that over 1000 corpses were removed from the streets and mass-buried in 2006, and an average of five corpses were picked up daily. The coroner’s system expresses the State’s interest in the safety and lives of every one of its citizens, by finding out why deaths occur, and using this information to prevent avoidable deaths in the future.