Cumbria's coroner for South and East Cumbria has been elected to be the new President of the Coroner's Society of England and Wales.
It means Ian Smith will be the national figurehead for all coroners at a time of major government reform for coroners. He moved to Barrow in 1975, and was appointed deputy coroner in 1978. In 1990 he was made coroner for the Furness and District area, this then changed to coroner for South Cumbria and Furness in 2004 and coroner for South and East Cumbria in May 2007.
The Coroner's Society was formed in 1846 to promote the usefulness of the office of coroner to the public, to resolve difficult questions and queries about the duties of coroners and to maintain contact with the Government.
His appointment means that the annual conference of the Coroner's Society will be held in Cumbria next year. The event will be held at the Low Wood Hotel, Windermere on September 25-28th 2008.
Ian Smith said:
"I am honoured to have been chosen by my colleagues from around the country to lead the Society through this next year when reform of the coroner's system will be on the government's agenda. I am expecting the year ahead to be extremely busy and challenging, but I am glad to be able to show that someone from our beautiful county can represent the Coroner's Society at a national level. I am looking forward to welcoming many of my colleagues to Cumbria a year from now at our annual conference."
Notes
The Draft Coroner's Bill for England and Wales will give people more powers to appeal against coroners' decisions, establish a new Chief Coroner, and also grant new powers for coroners to conduct more effective investigations. For more information visit www.dca.gov.uk.
ENDS
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