Part 2: Courts, tribunals and coroners Chapter 4: Coroners Section 44: Provision of information to registrar when investigation discontinued
New section 23(4) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 enables a registrar to register a death on the basis of information provided by the coroner, on request by the registrar, when the coroner's investigation has been discontinued and the coroner has authorised the disposal of the body.
	New section 23(4) does not remove the duty imposed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 on a qualified informant (normally a family member) to provide the registrar with information required for a death to be registered. However, where a qualified informant is unable or unwilling to provide such information, this new section enables the registrar to request that the coroner supplies the relevant information for registration, in those cases where the coroner has established the information as part of their initial investigation.
	These cases are the exception rather than the norm and new section 23(4) is only intended to apply to those deaths where no qualified informant is available or willing to provide information. In order for the new section to apply the coroner must have conducted some initial investigation but then discontinued the investigation under section 4 of the 2009 Act as the cause of death becomes clear before an inquest is formally opened (for instance where it has been established by a post-mortem examination that the death is one of natural causes). The coroner must have also authorised the disposal of the body.
	New section 23(4) does not impose a duty on the coroner to provide information to the registrar.