Chapter 15
Statutory duties in respect of the disposal of bodies
15.1Previously in this part of the Report, we have described three general obligations in respect of handling the disposal of deceased bodies that should be included in a new statute:
- Bodies must not be buried in land that has not been approved as a cemetery under the statute.
- Cremation or other disposal must only occur in an approved cremator or approved other device, except with the permission of the local authority.
- Human bodies or their remains buried in any cemetery must not be disinterred without the permission of the cemetery manager, local authority or court (as applicable).
15.2In this section, we describe a number of other general obligations in respect of the disposal of bodies. Many of these currently exist in the Burial and Cremation Act 1964 (the Act) but require modernisation. Several are new.