A small number of deaths have to be reported to the coroner before they may be registered and before the document allowing the funeral to go ahead can be issued. The following are the deaths that, if not already reported to the coroner by someone else, will be reported by the registrar:

• where there is no doctor who can issue a medical certificate of cause of death, or
• where the deceased was not seen by the doctor issuing the medical certificate after death nor within 14 days before death, or
• where the cause of death is unknown, or
• where the cause of death is believed to be unnatural or suspicious, or
• where the death occurred during an operation or before recovery from an anaesthetic, or
• where the death is due to industrial disease or industrial poisoning

Once a death has been reported to the coroner, the registrar is unable to go ahead with the registration until the coroner has decided whether any further investigation into the death is necessary. In the vast majority of cases no further investigation is necessary and the registration may be completed straightaway.

• Coroner information