| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title |
An Act to amend the law relating to coroners, to investigation of deaths and to certification and registration of deaths; to amend the criminal law; to make provision about criminal justice and about dealing with offenders; to make provision about the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses; to make provision relating to the security of court and other buildings; to make provision about legal aid and about payments for legal services provided in connection with employment matters; to make provision for payments to be made by offenders in respect of benefits derived from the exploitation of material pertaining to offences; to amend the Data Protection Act 1998; and for connected purposes. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2009 c. 25 |
| Introduced by | Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice (Commons) Lord Bach, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Lords) |
| Territorial extent |
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| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 12 November 2009 |
| Commencement |
|
Status: Current legislation | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Records of Parliamentary debate relating to the statute from Hansard | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the law on coroners and criminal justice in England and Wales.
Among its provisions are:
- Preventing criminals from profiting from publications about their crimes[1]
- Abolishing the anachronistic offences of sedition and seditious, defamatory and obscene libel[2]
- Re-enacting the provisions of the emergency Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Act 2008 so that the courts may continue to grant anonymity to vulnerable or intimidated witnesses where this is consistent with a defendant's right to a fair trial[1]
- Criminalising possession of cartoon pornographic images depicting both minors as well as adults where the "predominant impression conveyed" is that the individual (being depicted), is that of a child.[3]
- Criminalising the holding of someone in slavery or servitude, or requiring them to perform forced or compulsory labour[4]
- Provision for the abolition of the office of Coroner of the Queen's Household.[5]
- Creation of the office of Chief Coroner of England and Wales.[6]
- Creation of the partial defence of loss of control.[7]
The law has been condemned by a coalition of graphic artists, publishers and MPs, fearing it will criminalise graphic novels such as Lost Girls and Watchmen.[8] These sections came into effect on 6 April 2010.[9]
The Act contains measures to reform the coroner system. According to the Institute of Legal Executives, "There is provision, carefully circumscribed, for the establishment of a judicial inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act to take the place of an inquest, where there is highly sensitive evidence (typically intercept) and it would not be possible to have an Article 2 compliant inquest. These provisions will be used in rare cases only."[2]
The most controversial[citation needed] aspect of the bill are the provisions regarding secret inquests. The provisions had previously been mulled as part of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, though ultimately they were dropped before the Counter-Terrorism Bill was finalised. Last-minute concessions, as the Coroners and Justice Bill passed through Parliament, included giving the Lord Chief Justice the power to veto any requests for private inquests and also the power to decide who the judge is.[10]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
MoJwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
ILEXwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ The Coroners and Justice Act 2009, Part 2, Chapter 2
- ^ CPS - Crown Prosecution Service, section 71
- ^ The Coroners and Justice Act 2009, section 46
- ^ "Office of the Chief Coroner". UK Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ The Coroners and Justice Act 2009, Section 54
- ^ Taylor, Jerome (23 March 2009). "Graphic artists condemn plans to ban erotic comics". The Independent. London.
- ^ "Cartoon Law goes live". The Register.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BBCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).