18 October 2024The Law Commission has published a consultation paper on burial and cremation which has been informed by discussions with stakeholders in a number of forums. It contains provisional proposals in a number of areas:
- The regulation of different types of burial grounds, including standards of maintenance, burial specifications, burial rights and record keeping
- The reuse and reclamation of old graves
- Closure and reopening of burial grounds
- Exhumation and building on disused burial grounds
- Cremation law
The consultation paper can be downloaded from the project’s webpage at Burial and Cremation – Law Commission. A shorter summary of key proposals is available on the website (a Welsh language translation has also been published). The webpage also includes a link to the consultation platform, which is the preferred way of receiving consultation responses: Law Commission consultation on burial and cremation – Ministry of Justice – Citizen Space.
This may be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for reform, and your input is needed to ensure that eventual recommendations to government will improve the law.
During the consultation period in-person events will be held across the country as well as some online events, to give you a chance to hear about the proposals and ask questions of the project team.
SLCC will be responding to this consultation and would like to hear your views to help inform our response. Please email Michael King, Head of Policy and External Communications at [email protected] by 6 December 2024.
More information can be found here. Please note the consultation closes on 9 January 2025.
