Clause 1
10:30 am
Henry Bellingham (Shadow Minister, Justice; North West Norfolk, Conservative)
A warm welcome to you, Mr. Cook. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship.
I would like to say a word or two about clause 1, which mirrors the requirements of section 8(1) of the Coroners Act 1988. The requirement to investigate deaths in prison has been altered to apply to deaths where the deceased died while in custody or otherwise in state detention, which makes sense. It is also sensible as it clarifies the situation where the death is in a police station, a mental hospital, an immigration hostel, or whatever. Obviously, there is a requirement that the death be sudden. All in all, clause 1 is a good start to the Bill.
We have identified a problem appertaining to deaths occurring abroad. That is why we have tabled new clause 9, more as a probing exercise than anything else. Obviously, losing a loved one abroad can be incredibly traumatic. We have all come across constituency cases where a family have had a loved one travelling abroad—perhaps on a gap year or working abroad—who has had a sudden, appalling accident and a tragic and perhaps unexplained death has occurred. That causes a huge amount of grief. It is dreadful enough to lose a loved one, particularly a young child, but to lose a young child abroad in a strange jurisdiction, with all the problems that might occur as a result, is even more dreadful for the family involved.
I am concerned that there is nothing in the Bill that covers deaths abroad. I accept that clause 1(4)(b) is perhaps a catch-all:
“the circumstances of the death are such that there should be an investigation into it”.
It does not say that it does not cover deaths abroad. I would like to draw the Committee’s attention to the draft Bill, which the then Department for Constitutional Affairs published in 2006. A number of clauses in the draft Bill related to deaths outside the United Kingdom.