Office of Public Sector Information

PART 1 Preliminary

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Cremation (England and Wales) Regulations 2008 and come into force on 1st January 2009.

(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales only.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 1953 Act” means the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953(2);

“the 1988 Act” means the Coroners Act 1988(3);

“the 2004 Act” means the Human Tissue Act 2004(4);

“applicant” means the person making an application for cremation in accordance with regulation 15;

“body parts” means material which consists of, or includes, human cells from—

“cremation” means the burning of human remains;

“cremation authority” means any burial authority or any person who has opened a crematorium and, in article 3(a), includes any burial authority or person who intends to open a crematorium;

“deputy medical referee” means a person appointed under regulation 6(2);

“five years’ standing”, in relation to a registered medical practitioner, means that the medical practitioner—

“inquest” means an inquest into the death of a deceased person under section 8 of the 1988 Act;

“medical certificate” and “confirmatory medical certificate” are references to the certificates so named given in accordance with regulation 17(1) and (2) respectively;

“medical referee” means a person appointed under regulation 6(1);

“registrar” means a person appointed under regulation 31;

“stillborn” and “stillbirth” apply to any child born after the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy and which did not at any time after birth, breathe or show any other signs of life.

(2) In calculating the time periods referred to in regulations 22(3), 23(1)(d) and (2) and 32(2), any period must be disregarded if it falls on—

(a) a Saturday or a Sunday;

(b) Christmas Day or Good Friday; or

(c) a day which is a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(7) in England and Wales.

PART 2 Maintenance and inspection of crematorium

Opening and closing of crematorium

3.  A cremation authority must,—

(a) at least one month before it opens or closes a crematorium, give written notice of its intention to do so to the Secretary of State; and

(b) at least one month before it closes a crematorium, give notice of its intention to do so by—

(i) publishing an advertisement in a local newspaper circulating in the place where the crematorium is situated; and

(ii) displaying a notice at the entrance to the crematorium in a place where it can be conveniently read.

Maintenance of crematorium

4.  The cremation authority must ensure that a crematorium is—

(a) maintained in good working order;

(b) provided with a sufficient number of attendants; and

(c) kept in a clean and orderly condition.

Inspection of crematorium

5.—(1) A cremation authority must make its crematorium open for inspection at any reasonable time by any person appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of State and the crematorium may be inspected by such person.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply if the cremation authority has permanently closed the crematorium.

PART 3 Medical referee

Appointment of medical referee and deputy medical referee

6.—(1) The Secretary of State must appoint a medical referee for each cremation authority.

(2) The Secretary of State must appoint as many deputy medical referees for each cremation authority as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate.

Qualifications of medical referee and deputy medical referee

7.—(1) To be eligible for appointment as a medical referee or a deputy medical referee, a person must be a registered medical practitioner of at least five years’ standing.

(2) The Secretary of State must appoint as medical referee and deputy medical referee such persons as may be nominated by the cremation authority who have the character, experience and qualifications to discharge the duties required by these Regulations.

Guidance by the Secretary of State

8.  The Secretary of State may issue guidance about the character, experience and qualifications that a person appointed as a medical referee or a deputy medical referee is expected to have.

Termination of office

9.  The Secretary of State may remove a medical referee or a deputy medical referee from office for incapacity or misbehaviour.

Functions of deputy medical referee

10.—(1) The functions of the medical referee for a cremation authority may—

(a) be performed by a deputy medical referee for the cremation authority—

(i) during any period when the medical referee is absent or unavailable;

(ii) in any case in which the medical referee has been the usual medical attendant of the deceased person in relation to whom an application for cremation has been made;

(iii) during any vacancy in the office of medical referee; or

(iv) in any other case, with the consent of the medical referee; and

(b) be performed by a medical referee or a deputy medical referee for any other cremation authority in an emergency.

(2) Accordingly, a reference in these Regulations to a medical referee is to be read, where relevant, as including a deputy medical referee.

Report to the Secretary of State

11.  A medical referee must give such reports to the Secretary of State as the Secretary of State may from time to time require.

Supplementary powers of medical referee

12.  A medical referee—

(a) who has investigated the cause of death of a deceased person, may issue a confirmatory medical certificate in an emergency;

(b) who has made a post-mortem examination of the body of the deceased person under regulation 24(2), may issue a certificate under regulation 24(3); and

(c) who is a coroner, may issue a certificate under regulation 16(1)(c)(ii).