Heads of hospitals, police stations and prisons will be
jailed a mandatory five years if found guilty of destroying or tampering with
vital evidence that incriminates in the death of people under their custody,
when the Coroner’s Office Bill becomes law.
This comes as Government takes seriously the death of
people in prison, under police custody and in hospitals, among others. In the
past there has been a lot of suspected cover up by heads of departments.
The Bill that was gazetted will create the
Coroner-General’s office, whose mandate will be to effectively and adequately
investigate unnatural deaths that occur in health institutions, police cells,
prisons and any other places.
Such investigations will be done independently and
impartially.
In terms of the Bill, officers in-charge of prisons, police
stations or medical institutions must keep records regarding such sudden deaths
for proper investigations by the coroner.
Failure to keep the necessary records or tampering with the
information, according to the Bill, will see those in-charge of the
institutions being jailed for a period of up to five years.
The same Bill also criminalises refusal by medical
practitioners to carry out post-mortems as directed by the coroner, an offence
that attracts six months’ incarceration.
Clause 7 of the Bill states that custodial officers must
keep medical records or any other relevant documents of the deceased for at
least five years to allow investigations to flow unhindered.
The clause in question reads: “Where a person dies, while
in any health institution for medical treatment or care or while he or she is
in a place of custody, the custodial officer shall preserve all medical
records, health –care records and any other documents pertaining to the medical
treatment or care or the custody of the deceased as are in his or her
possession for a period as may be prescribed but in any event for not less than
five years.
“A custodial officer commits an offence if he or she
wilfully or recklessly destroys or fails to preserve medical and health care or
custody records in terms of subsection (1) and shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding level 10 or to imprisonment for five years or both.”
The coroner will have the power to direct any competent
medical practitioner to conduct post-mortem, for which he will be paid in terms
of the prescribed tariff.
Any doctor who refuses to conduct the post-mortem,
according to the Bill, will be jailed for up to six months.
“Any medical practitioner who, without lawful excuse, fails
or refuses to conduct post-mortem, when summoned to do so under sub-section (3)
shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level five or
to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.”
The Bill, which was recently approved by Cabinet, is now
set to be debated in Parliament.
It seeks to set up the Coroner’s office to be headed by the
Coroner-General.
The Bill also sets out the appointment, functions and
powers of the Coroner-General, the Deputy Coroner-General and the coroners in
relation to post-mortems, inquests and their findings.
The Bill, if it sails through, is expected to ensure
negligent doctors become accountable for their actions.
This comes amid an outcry over some surgeons whose
negligence gets to an extent where a pair of scissors is left in a woman’s
womb.
The High Court has over the years been inundated with
lawsuits against medical practitioners who negligently cause the death of
patients.
In most cases, negligent practitioners get away with murder
because they usually cover up for each other.
The Bill will also put an end to the shortage of forensic
pathologists, which is slowing down the investigation and prosecution of murder
and robbery cases.
The office is expected to impartially carry out
post-mortems, when necessary, and come up with forensic reports for use in
court.
Coroners will also testify in court, replacing doctors who
shy away from giving evidence for fear of being grilled.
The President, in consultation with the Minister of Health
and Child Care, will be responsible for the appointment of the Coroner-General
and the Deputy Coroner-General based on their qualifications.
For one to be appointed Coroner-General, according to the
Bill, he must be hold a qualification in forensic medicine, forensic pathology,
forensic science or any other relevant qualifications. Herald
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