Britt v Office of the State Coroner & Anor

Britt (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the State Coroner (the first respondent) to refuse to reopen an inquest into the death of her son, and the subsequent decision by the State Coroner to refuse to grant her access to certain documents relating to that inquest. The second respondent was the Commissioner of Police. The matter came before Gleeson J in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the State Coroner had erred in law in refusing to reopen the inquest, and whether the Coroner had acted unlawfully in refusing access to the requested documents. Specifically, the Court considered the scope of the Coroner's discretion to reopen an inquest under section 12 of the Coroners Act 1980 (NSW) and the principles governing access to coronial documents under section 101 of the Act.

Gleeson J found that the Coroner had not erred in law in refusing to reopen the inquest. His Honour noted that the discretion to reopen an inquest is a broad one, but it must be exercised judicially and based on relevant considerations. The applicant had not presented new evidence or circumstances that would warrant a reopening. Regarding the access to documents, Gleeson J determined that the Coroner had also acted lawfully. Section 101 of the Coroners Act permits access to documents where it is in the public interest, and the Coroner had properly considered the competing interests, including privacy and the need for effective coronial investigations, in reaching his decision.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.