Funeral Industry News

Update: Cross-Border Repatriation to Scotland – 2024 Amendment Regulations

October 15, 2024 by No Comments | Category Uncategorized

Our blog of 6 September 2024, about changes to the medical examiner system in England and Wales, included a reminder that any death in another UK nation must be registered before a burial or cremation can take place in Scotland. The documents required for this are set out in the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 (Prohibition on Disposal of a Body without Authorisation) Regulations 2015 (the 2015 Regulations).

The issue

Although the requirement for deaths to be registered before burial or cremation in Scotland has been in place since 2015, the recent regulatory changes in England and Wales have brought to light that there has been some confusion over whether certificates issued by coroners can be accepted in place of certificates of registration of death.

What’s Changing

We advised we would review the 2015 Regulations to consider whether coroner authorisation should be accepted in Scotland to enable burial or cremation here where the death is subject to an ongoing coronial investigation in another part of the UK and where no certificate of registration of death is yet available.

We can now confirm that an amendment in these terms to the 2015 Regulations has been laid in the Scottish Parliament today, 15 October 2024, and will come into effect tomorrow, 16 October 2024. This change will apply to all burials or cremations which take place on 16 October 2024 onwards.

The change to the 2015 Regulations will ensure that Scotland recognises the coroner procedures in other UK jurisdictions and avoids unnecessary delays in such cases to bereaved families arranging funerals.

Death in England or Wales

Any burial or cremation in Scotland where the death occurred in England or Wales must not take place without:

  1. A Certificate of Registration of Death from the Registrar and a Coroner’s certificate authorising removal of the body out of England or Wales,

or

  1. a Coroner’s certificate authorising the burial of the body,

or

  1. a Coroner’s certificate authorising the cremation of the body.

Death in Northern Ireland

Any burial or cremation in Scotland where the death occurred in Northern Ireland must not take place without:

  1. A Certificate of Registration of Death from the Registrar or a Coroner’s certificate authorising the burial or cremation of the body,

and

  1. A Coroner’s certificate authorising removal of the body out of Northern Ireland.
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