A lawyer representing the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) has argued that the Senior Coroner cannot launch an inquest into the death of popular bar owner Hubert (Hubie) Brown.

Mr Brown, who ran Hubie’s Bar on Angle Street died while a patient at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in December 2002. He was 66 years old.

Senior coroner Archibald Warner sought to open an inquest into his death last year following a prolonged police investigation, but the BHB applied for judicial review to prevent the inquest.

During a hearing in the Supreme Court yesterday lawyer Allan Doughty, representing the BHB, argued that while the coroner has in the past been able to launch such an inquest, the current Coroners Act does not allow it.

“Historically in Bermuda the coroner was obligated to hold an inquest when there was a body that was found or a death that occurred under unnatural circumstances,” Mr Doughty said. “There really was no wiggle room and that continued until 1999. In 1999 there were a series of amendments made to the act which have led to complete ambiguity.”

He said that under the current legislation, the coroner is required to hold an inquest into any death in prison, police custody, mental hospital or senior training school.

The coroner also has discretion under the act to hold an inquest when a body is “found on land or in the territorial waters of Bermuda, or is brought or washed ashore” if there is reason to suspect the person died under violent or unnatural circumstances, or if the cause of death is unknown.

But Mr Doughty described the legislation as very vague, saying the act merely meets the minimum standards of ensuring that the state must investigate the death of anyone in the state’s hands.

“We are not saying that the legislature cannot fix this,” Mr Doughty said. “We are not saying that they shouldn’t fix this. What we are saying is that the act as it currently stands is fundamentally broken.”

In the case of Mr Brown, he added that an inquest would accomplish little, noting that the hospital has accepted responsibility for the death, paid his family compensation and the incident has been widely reported in this newspaper.

However, deputy solicitor general Shakira Dill said the legislation was broad, not vague, and amendments were intended to further empower the coroner rather than limit him. She noted that previous to the amendments, the coroner was required to carry out an inquest when he was notified of a case, while the amendments offered him discretion.

“The word ‘found’ is broad for a reason, so as not to limit the act,” she said. “It means found anywhere.

“[The amendment] doesn’t take away the fact that the coroner can still decide to hold inquiries when one has died a violent or unnatural death.”

She described the office of coroner as necessary, and should be able to open a case when the public should know what happened, and that there is therefore a strong public interest in a broad construction of the act.

Puisne Judge Stephen Hellman reserved his ruling and will deliver it at a later date.