The autopsy imperative: medicine, law, and the coronial investigation.
The central purpose of this paper is to address the tension between legal and medical discourses within the coronial system. Medical expertise, based largely upon internal autopsy, becomes positioned as providing the more important information, rather than the legal model which focuses on evidence gathering at the scene. This paper will examine the aspects of the history, philosophy and consequences of the processes by which the medical model gained its current dominance and will conclude that, while autopsies are necessary, they are also over-used in the coronial system.
Carpenter
Belinda
B
School of Justice, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology (Gardens Point), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. b.carpenter@qut.edu.au
Tait
Gordon
G
D001315:Australia; D001344:Autopsy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D014852:Wales
Med Law. 2006 Mar;25(1):101-13
16681116
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2001 Nov;125(11):1425-9
11697996
J Forensic Sci. 1997 Mar;42(2):270-5
9068185
Med Sci Law. 2004 Oct;44(4):287-94
15573968
J R Soc Med. 1993 Dec;86(12):716-20
8308812
Pathol Res Pract. 2003;199(1):9-14
12650512
Med Sci Law. 1998 Oct;38(4):283-8
9808939
J Forensic Sci. 1992 May;37(3):824-9
1629674
Am J Med. 1985 Jan;78(1):107-13
3881019
J Law Med. 2006 Nov;14(2):199-208
17153525
Med Sci Law. 2004 Oct;44(4):280-7
15573967
Med J Aust. 2004 Aug 2;181(3):173
15287842
US News World Rep. 2005 Apr 25;138(15):48-54
15852607
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2000 Oct;124(10):1485-95
11035581