Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Coroner jurisdiction
  • 15 Feb 1990

    RE MEDICAL DEFENCE UNION LTD.

    Citation
    RE MEDICAL DEFENCE UNION LTD.
    Court
    Court of First Instance
    Case number
    HCMP1950/1989

    The coroner's statutory jurisdiction under s.6 does not extend to a wide-ranging, microscopic evaluation of individual professional conduct amounting to the same exercise as a civil liability trial; a 'lack of care' verdict is confined to conduct causing or contributing to the physical condition leading to death (judged by lay standards), and although the coroner misdirected himself in this inquest in treating medical conduct as effectively determinative of liability, the court refused the declaratory relief as academic while giving guidance on proper limits and procedure.