In medieval times, justice was slow -- literally. The court (or 'eyre') would travel around the country in a giant circuit. When the court was in session, the first thing they would demand is an account of all crimes that had occurred since the last court, which may have been 7 years ago, or 44 years ago!
Now, if you thought the purpose of this was to ensure justice was done, you get points for altruism but lose them for gullibility. The courts -- then as now -- would fine the miscreant (and sometimes the entire village) which was an important source of income for the government!
So in 1194, King Richard the Lionhearted -- trying to raise money to support his disastrous Crusades -- ordered that every village appoint three knights and a scribe to keep track of all crimes, which would then be reviewed by the next court. This was known as "keeping the pleas of the Crown" (Latin, custos placitorum coronae) from which the word "coroner" is derived.
Now, if that sounds like the role of the sheriff, you're probably right, except you'll know from Robin Hood that sheriffs were notoriously corrupt, and for a small contribution a crime would not be reported to the court. Coroners (or "Crowners" as they were known at the time) were an attempt to curb this, by having a separate person document the crime.
From the start, one of the key functions of the coroner was to investigate a sudden or mysterious death. Again, if you think that was to understand how the person died, or to figure out by whom, you've been watching too much CSI. One of the first acts of the Normans (after conquering England) was to pass the "murdrum" -- a huge fine levied against any community where a Norman was murdered. Thus, the coroner had to determine if the body was Saxon or Norman, and if the death was intentional or accidental. To that end, they could order an inquest, subpoena witnesses, hold a jury, and deliver a verdict. Much of this has been carried forward today.
They also had one other important function: To determine the object that caused the death. That is because the Normans also supplanted the Roman law of noxal surrender -- whereby animals or objects causing serious damage or death were given to the victim -- with "deo dandum" (literally, "to be given to God") which, in effect, meant they were forfeit to the Crown. (Usually, they were assessed a value that the accused had to pay to keep the item, so it was effectively just another tax.)
In 1340 they did away with the murdrum, and in 1846 they abolished the deodand. As courts became established there was no longer a need to "keep the pleas," and coroners increasingly focused on sudden deaths. However, historically this was never a medical role, and even today a coroner in England must have a degree and five years' experience in the medical or legal field. In the US and other colonies, there are a patchwork of laws -- many areas require a degree in forensic pathology, but other areas have no requirements whatsoever! Other countries
In the UK, a coroner can return one of 15 "verdicts":
- Death by natural causes
- Death by misadventure
- Accidental death
- Lawful killing (e.g. self-defense)
- Suicide
- Unlawful killing
- Occupational disease
- Drug dependence
- Non-dependent drug abuse
- Attempted abortion
- Self-induced abortion
- Disaster
- Still birth
- Self-neglect (for example, anorexia)
- Lack of care/neglect
They can also return an "open verdict" (cause not established) or a "narrative verdict" which makes no sense to me. (I don't have all the answers!!)
There is no effective difference between accidental death and one of misadventure, except that one sounds tragic and other sounds hilarious.
No comments:
Post a Comment