Coroner's Court of New South Wales

The Coroner's Court of New South Wales is the court in the Australian state of New South Wales in which inquests and inquiries into deaths, suspected deaths, fires and explosions are held. Proceedings are presided over by the State Coroner, a Deputy State Coroner or another coroner, and coroners must be magistrates who sit in branches of the Local Court. The State Coroner oversees and coordinates coronial services in the state and issues guidelines to coroners, and where an inquest reveals a serious criminal offence the coroner may end the proceedings and refer the matter to a Director of Public Prosecutions. There is generally no appeal from a coroner, although the Supreme Court of New South Wales can order a fresh inquest or grant prerogative relief. The office of State Coroner was established in 1988, and the main court sits at the Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court complex at Lidcombe.