(3) In deciding whether to hold an inquiry, a Coroner may have regard to the following matters:
- (a) in the case of a death that appears to have been unnatural or violent, whether or not it appears to have been due to the action or inaction of any other person;
- (b) the extent to which the drawing of attention to the circumstances of the death may be likely to reduce the chances of the occurrence of other deaths in similar circumstances;
- (c) the desire of any member of the immediate family of the deceased that an inquiry should be conducted;
- (d) whether or not the death occurred outside Singapore or was caused by matters arising outside Singapore;
- (e) whether or not an inquiry or investigation into the death has been or will be conducted by a coroner or a corresponding authority of a foreign country; and
- (f) any other matter the Coroner thinks fit.
(4) A Coroner who decides not to hold an inquiry into a death under subsection (2) shall report the facts to the Public Prosecutor with his reasons for not holding an inquiry.
Power of Public Prosecutor to require inquiry
26.—(1) The Public Prosecutor may, in any case where a Coroner has jurisdiction and the Public Prosecutor is satisfied that an inquiry is necessary or desirable, require the Coroner to hold an inquiry into the death of any person.
(2) The Public Prosecutor may direct that a body be exhumed if he is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so for the purposes of the inquiry.
(3) Notwithstanding that proceedings at any inquiry may have been concluded by a Coroner, where it appears to the Public Prosecutor that further investigations are necessary, the Public Prosecutor may direct the Coroner to re-open the inquiry and make further investigations, and the Coroner shall comply with such directions and thereafter proceed in the same manner as if the proceedings at the inquiry had not been concluded.
