Section 39 Notification of an inquiry into death of prisoner.F1
In the event of the death of a prisoner, the governor of a prison shall give immediate notice thereof to the coroner within whose area the prison is situated, and to theF2 independent monitoring board, and, where practicable, to the nearest relative of the prisoner.
The coroner shall hold an inquest into the cause of death of any prisoner in a prison within his area, and, where practicable, sufficient time between the death and the holding of the inquest shall intervene to allow the attendance of the next-of-kin of the prisoner.
No prison officer nor any person who is engaged in any sort of trade or dealing with a prison shall be a juror on such inquest.
Annotations
Textual amendments
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- C1
S. 39(3) applied (28.3.2009 for certain purposes, otherwise 31.10.2009) by Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959 (c. 15), s. 18(4) (as added by Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52), ss. 378(1), 383(2), Sch. 16 para. 44 (with s. 385); S.I. 2009/812, art. 3(a)(b) (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2009/1059); S.I. 2009/1167, art. 4)