Checklist · Coronial Inquests
Self-incrimination objection and certificate at a NSW inquest: steps for the lawyer
The steps in s 61 of the Coroners Act 2009 (NSW) when a witness objects that an answer may incriminate them, and what a certificate does and does not protect.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- New South Wales
- AI use
- Red You write the text. The tool writes nothing into the document. Where permitted, it may check, clarify or collect data, and anything it checks or collects is verified.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for New South Wales.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when advising a witness or an institution's officer who may be called at a NSW inquest and who may wish to object under s 61. Whether to object is the lawyer's advice. This is not a script and not a statement.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
The lawyer advises whether to object; AI may only set out the steps in s 61 and list the topics in the brief that the lawyer marks as possibly incriminating.
AI may
- Set out the steps in s 61 in the order the section states them
- List topics in the brief that the lawyer has marked for a privilege conference
AI must not
- Must not advise the witness to object or not to object
- Must not draft the words of the objection or any evidence
- Must not say the certificate protects the witness in a court outside New South Wales
The lawyer checks
- The witness is a natural person; s 61(10) limits a certificate to evidence required of a natural person
- The witness is told they must object, and that the coroner then decides whether there are reasonable grounds
- The limits of the certificate in s 61(7) are explained, including the falsity exception and the NSW-proceedings limit, before the witness gives the evidence
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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More in Coronial Inquests
- Coronial matter register and deadline list (NSW)
- Objection to a post mortem examination (Coroners Court of NSW): the senior next of kin's letter, the 48-hour notice and the Supreme Court application
- Request for an inquest into a death (Coroners Court of Victoria Form 26)
- Asking for an inquest after a coroner has dispensed with one (NSW)
- Queensland internal autopsy: record of a family's concerns
- Application for leave to appear at an inquest: letter to the coroner (NSW, sufficient interest)
- Application for leave to appear as an interested party (Coroners Court Form 31)
- Letter asking a NSW coroner for reasons for dispensing with an inquest
- Requesting a Queensland inquest: pathway, dates and pre-inquest conference
- Application to set aside a finding (Coroners Court Form 43)
- Queensland coronial recommendations: response tracking register
- Closing submissions on findings and recommendations at an inquest: structure and checklist (NSW)
- Application for access to coronial documents or an inquest transcript (Coroners Court Form 45)
- Non-publication or closed-court order at a NSW inquest: structure (s 74)
- Organisation's response to coronial recommendations: letter and implementation register
- Western Australian coronial investigation: status register
- Family conference before an inquest: agenda
- Notice of application for a suppression order (Coroners Court Form 42B)
- Issues-to-witness matrix for an inquest
- Western Australia: senior next of kin autopsy and information rights
- Request for consideration of concerns (Coroners Court of Victoria)
All precedents for Coronial Inquests · Tasks and AI use in this area