Burial and Cremation

Current project status

• Initiation: Could include discussing scope and terms of reference with lead Government Department
• Pre-consultation: Could include approaching interest groups and specialists, producing scoping and issues papers, finalising terms of project
• Consultation: Likely to include consultation events and paper, making provisional proposals for comment
• Policy development: Will include analysis of consultation responses. Could include further issues papers and consultation on draft Bill
• Reported: Usually recommendations for law reform but can be advice to government, scoping report or other recommendations

The Law Commission is seeking to reform the law of burial in England and Wales, which is piecemeal, complex and outdated. It is also gauging solutions for unresolved issues in cremation law.

We have published a consultation paper and a summary and are looking for views on our proposals. The consultation is open until  9 January 2025.

The problem

Burial law is governed by a patchwork of legislation, some of which dates to the 1850s. There are different laws in place for burial grounds which are operated by local authorities, the Church of England, the Church in Wales, and private burial grounds. This complex picture has emerged as a result of different historical development, and it means that there are gaps in the safeguards which protect the dignity of the people who are buried in burial grounds.

Burial space is running out across England and Wales, with the situation worse in some urban areas. Grave reuse has been proposed as a solution to this problem, but reform to permit the reuse of graves must include sufficient safeguards to maintain public support.

Cremation law has been reformed more recently in 2017, but some issues remain unresolved. Concerns have been raised about entitlement to ashes, and what may be done with them.  There are also issues relating to the ownership of medical implants which are removed before cremation and relating to sets of ashes which have not been collected from funeral directors’ premises.

Our review 

This work is part of our overall Burial, Cremation and New Funerary Methods project, which has two other strands. Please see the link at the top of this page for more detail of the project’s origins and scope

The consultation paper

On 3 October 2024 we published a consultation paper containing our provisional proposals, and open questions on issues relating to law reform The consultation paper and a summary of the consultation paper are available above (in the “documents” section).

The consultation paper contains provisional proposals for reform on a number of issues. We consider:

• the regulation of burial grounds;
• grave reuse and reclamation;
• closed and disused burial grounds, and exhumation;
• the rights granted to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission; and
• cremation law.

 

Next Steps

We encourage stakeholders to respond using the online questionnaire. The closing date for responses is  9 January 2025. We will use the responses to the consultation to develop our final recommendations for reform, which ultimately will be published in a report. We expect the report will be published towards the end of 2025.

During the consultation period we are holding in-person events across the country, open to the public. Please click the following links for more information and to register:

• York: 11 November, 3.30pm-5pm
• Cardiff: 12 November 3.30-5pm
• London: 18 November 3-4.30pm
• Birmingham: 25 November 3.30pm-5pm
• Bath: 26 November 3.30-5pm

Contact 

Anyone wishing to be added to our email list can contact us on the following address:bcnfm@lawcommission.gov.uk