After Death

Listed below are the tasks that may need to be done when your loved one dies.

More complex cases, such as those requiring a Coroner’s inquest hearing, are beyond the scope of this website at the moment but may be added later.

The focus of this website is on documentation. However, there may be religious rites that also need to performed at the moment of death (e.g. reciting Shahada); you should seek advice from an Imam in this regard. Most hospital have a Muslim Chaplain. Some other practicalities are as follows:-

Ensure that the hospital remove cannulas, tubes etc.
Remove false teeth.
Close eyes.
Close mouth (you may need to tie a length of bandage around the top of the head and bottom of the chin).
Straighten arms and legs (some families will use a length of bandage to tie the two big toes together to ensure that the legs remain straight).
Remove rings, jewellery etc

Summary of steps

You should appoint a local funeral director (often from the Mosque) without delay as they will be able to assist you with the vast majority of the steps below (I will add a list of Muslim funeral directors to the website in due course):-

Review by Medical Examiner (this relates to hospital deaths only at the moment on a non-statutory basis but it is intended to apply all deaths (including in the community) on a statutory basis from April 2024 onwards).
Issue of MCCD (first death certificate) by attending doctor.
[Issue of Form 100A by Coroner to Registrar – not always required]
[Post-mortem – only where a doctor is not able to provide a cause of death]
Appointment with Registrar at the Council to obtain Certified Copy of an Entry on the Register (second death certificate) and ‘Green form’ authorising burial.
Release of body from mortuary and ensuring that your funeral director is available to transport the body to the Mosque.
Agreeing type of coffin with funeral director and ensuring it is available.
Arranging for the cemetery to ensure that the chosen type of grave is prepared and identifying the last burial time e.g. in winter months this may be 2pm.
Liaising with the Mosque for ghusl, funeral prayers (Namaz-e-Janaaza/ Salaatul Janaazah) and food.
If taking the body overseas:-

Appointing a specialist funeral director who is able to embalm the body and provide a zinc-lined coffin, appropriately wrapped.
Obtaining a letter/certificate from the GP, hospital or mortuary confirming that the body is free from infection and there is nothing to prevent the body from being exported.
Obtaining an Out of England Certificate from the Coroner.
Locating the deceased’s passport (and if travelling to Pakistan, NADRA card or Pakistani passport).
Arranging flight tickets and if necessary, visa for passengers from the Embassy.
Sending coffin size to overseas cemetery (don’t forget to include the handles when measuring the width).
Arranging transportation (van/ambulance) from Airport.

PRACTICAL TIP:– I would strongly recommend that you appoint one person from within the family as the point of contact with the funeral director, doctors, Registrar and Coroner. Having multiple people involved can confuse matters and cause delay. Other members of the family can instead liaise with the Mosque, family, airlines etc as necessary.

Death Certificates

Death certificates seems to be the single most confusing aspect of the entire process. This is partly because there are two different death certificates involved.

The first is the Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death (MCCD). This is issued by a doctor and is sent direct to the Registrar at the Council, usually by email. This is not given to the family and does not enable the burial to go ahead.

The second death certificate (technically Certified Copy of an Entry on the Register) is issued by the Registrar to the family at an appointment. You will need this second death certificate to enable the burial process to go ahead. Please see the section entitled ‘Registering the Death’ for further information.

First Death Certificate – Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death (MCCD)

The MCCD can only be completed by a doctor with GMC registration (not a nurse or other non-medical staff):-

who has attended the deceased for their last illness and can state the cause of death; AND
has seen the deceased during their final illness up to 28 days before death or viewed the body in person after death. ‘Seen’ during the final illness includes consultation using video technology but not by telephone/audio only. In my experience, a doctor is unlikely to view the body in person after death.

In certain circumstances, the MCCD can still be completed by a doctor who attended the deceased for their last illness and can state the cause of death but did not see them during the last 28 days or after death. However, the Registrar is obliged to refer such deaths to the Coroner before registration.

The Coroner may instruct the Registrar to accept the doctor’s MCCD for registration, despite the prolonged interval. The Coroner will complete Form 100A and send this to the Registrar to allow registration.

In contrast, a doctor who has not been directly involved in the patient’s care at any time during the illness from which they died cannot certify under current legislation but should provide the Coroner with any information that may help to determine the cause of death. If adequate, the Coroner may then provide this information to the Registrar. It will be used for mortality statistics, but the death will be legally “uncertified” if the Coroner does not investigate through a post-mortem, an inquest, or both. Examples of this are:-

the deceased’s usual GP is not available but a different GP at the same surgery has reviewed the medical notes and is able to provide the Coroner with sufficient information to establish the cause of death.
the treating doctor at hospital is not available but the Medical Examiner or a different doctor has reviewed the medical notes and is able to provide the Coroner with sufficient information to establish the cause of death.

If the cause of death cannot be established then the Coroner may request a post-mortem. Please see the section entitled ‘Post-Mortem Examination’ for further information.

CHANGES TO THE LAW:- In Autumn 2023 the Department for Health and Social Care will publish draft regulations including changes to the death certification system. It is proposed that those changes will be effective from April 2024 and will include the following:-

1.The MCCD will become digital/electronic (at the moment it is a paper-based system requiring a wet signature).

2. The MCCD, in addition to recording the cause of death, will note the outcome of the Medical Examiner’s scrutiny.

3. The MCCD will include new fields such as ethnicity, maternity deaths and medical devices (e.g. pacemakers) for statistical purposes.

4. The pool of doctors who can sign the MCCD will be expanded (it it not however expected to include nurses etc).

5. It is possible that the 28 day time period will also be expanded but we will have to wait and see.

6. Where no attending practitioner/doctor is available, the Medical Examiner will be able to complete the MCCD (thereby avoiding the need for the Coroner to consider an uncertified death).

Medical Examiner

Before the attending doctor can issue the MCCD, the death must be reviewed by the Medical Examiner. Medical examiners are senior medical doctors who provide independent scrutiny of the causes of death, outside their usual clinical duties.

The Medical Examiner will:-

review the medical notes;
agree the proposed cause of death and the overall accuracy of the MCCD with the doctor completing it;
call the family of the deceased to discuss the cause of death and establish if they have questions or any concerns with care before death; and
where necessary, refer the death to the Coroner.

The Medical Examiner scheme is currently only operating in Hospitals on a non-statutory basis. However, from April 2024 onwards, it is expected that the statutory scheme will cover all healthcare settings, including GPs. This will mean that a GP will not be able to issue an MCCD until the death has been reviewed by a Medical Examiner.

PRACTICAL TIP:– when the death occurs in hospital, try to ensure that the medical notes are sent by the ward to the Medical Examiner as soon as possible and that you get the name of the treating doctor and Consultant responsible for the care. It is also worth checking that these doctors will be at work or available for the next few days. The hospital Bereavement Office is usually the family’s key point of contact.

PRACTICAL TIP:- where your loved one is at home on end of life care, you can ask a doctor (GP or discharging hospital doctor) to sign a ‘Statement of Intent’ to inform out of hours services that your relative/friend is expected to die within the next few hours or days. It is usually valid for around 14 days. It confirms that a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death will be completed by the doctor that has signed the Statement. In some cases, the doctors are not able to complete a Statement of Intent if your loved one’s condition is reportable to the Coroner. However, where it is in place and death occurs, the Paramedics can notify the Police that it was an expected death thereby avoiding the need for the Police to attend the home. The body can then be taken to the Mosque or funeral director’s mortuary instead of the hospital mortuary.

Coroner

A Coroner is an independent judicial office holder albeit appointed by the local council. Most Coroners are Solicitors or Barristers.

Not all deaths are referred to the Coroner. In 2021, only 33% of all registered deaths were reported to Coroners.

Generally speaking, the Coroner is only involved where the death:-

is due to an unknown cause e.g. sudden and unexpected death, including those at hospital.
is violent or unnatural e.g. accident, suicide, homicide.
occurred in state detention e.g. prison.

However, an apparently natural causes death may still be referred to the Coroner if the deceased died within 24 hours of arriving into hospital; had a medical procedure in the last 12 month which may have contributed to death; or had sepsis.

The extent of the Coroner’s involvement can vary. The Coroner may:-

have no duty to investigate and be required only to issue an Out of England Certificate.
do no more than discuss the case with the attending doctor or a Medical Examiner in order to gather enough information to ascertain the cause of death and that it was natural.
obtain a post-mortem to determine the cause of death. If it is natural causes, the investigation will be discontinued.
in cases where the death was violent, unnatural, unknown (despite a post-mortem) or in state detention, open an investigation and conduct an Inquest hearing to find out who has died and how, when, and where they died.

A list of all Senior Coroner and their contact details can be found in the Useful Links page of this website.

Post-Mortem Examination (PM)

What is a PM?

There is no legal definition of what constitutes a PM. It can include any of the following: external examination of the body; toxicology tests; tests on organ and tissue samples from the body; CT or MRI scanning; and/or full internal invasive examination of the body.

When is a PM required?

PMs are not a requirement of all death investigations by the Coroner. However, sometimes, the only way that a Coroner can establish the medical cause of death or assist in answering the statutory question of how the deceased came by his death is through a PM.

The general trend over the last twenty years has been a decrease in first PMs arranged by Coroners. The Chief Coroner welcomes this reduction and recognises that PMs cause distress to bereaved families and may also delay the release of bodies.

Consent

The Coroner has legal control over the body so the next of kin’s consent is not required for a PM. However, the family must usually be informed by the Coroner of the date, time and place of the PM. The family are also entitled to be represented by a medical practitioner at the PM.

Timescale

The Chief Coroner’s Guidance No 32 states “It is usual practice that a PM examination will be carried out, subject to the availability of pathologists, within a few days of the death, and ideally within 24 hours”. However, there is a national shortage of pathologists which means that the timescales can be longer.

The Coroner must release the body as soon as is reasonably practicable. This will generally be immediately the PM has been completed. If a body cannot be released within 28 days of the death being notified to the Coroner, there is a duty to notify the next of kin of the reasons.

Scans

A full internal invasive PM is incredibly disruptive to the body. The family can request a CT/MRI Scan instead. The Chief Coroner Guidance No 32 “encourages coroners to consider the use of less invasive forms of examination in appropriate cases, especially where the bereaved family has a strong objection to invasive examination”.

Imaging based examinations have the further benefit that through detailed images the state of the body, both externally and internally, is permanently recorded for anyone to review in future.

There are a number of scan facilities including:-

Churchill Hospital, Oxford (Professor Ian Roberts). Usually done after 6pm.
Igene at Sandwell, Stoke, Sheffield and Preston.
Manchester.
Newcastle Upon Tyne

It is the Coroner that will contact the facility in order to arrange the scan. However, in some cases a scan cannot determine the cause of death and will not therefore be suitable.

PRACTICAL TIP:– In Newcastle Upon Tyne, the MRI scan facilities in the local hospital are used in the evening for post-mortem scanning before being deep-cleaned and ready for the normal use in the morning. This was achieved through a concerted effort by the Coroner, Local Authority and Hospital Trust. Given that dedicated post-mortem scanning facilities can be expensive to set up, I would encourage all relevant local stakeholders to replicate this model in other areas of the Country.

The Rotsztein case

The correct approach to be taken by the Coroner to a request by a bereaved family for less invasive examination was considered in the case of Rotsztein v H M Senior Coroner for Inner North London [2015] EWHC 2764 which laid down the following guidelines:-

there must be an established religious tenet that invasive autopsy is to be avoided e.g. it was recognised in this case that Jewish law strictly forbids the desecration of a corpse and requires it to be buried promptly, if possible on the day of death.
there must be a realistic possibility — not a more than 50/50 chance — that non-invasive procedures, which can include a CT scan and a coronary angiography but also the growth of blood and urine cultures, will establish the cause of death.
the whole post-mortem examination must be capable of being undertaken without undue delay.
the performance of non-invasive or minimally invasive procedures must not impair the effectiveness of an invasive autopsy if one is ultimately required.
there must be no good reason founded on the coroner’s duty to ascertain how, when and where the deceased came by his or her death to require an immediate invasive autopsy in any event e.g. forensic autopsy in a homicide case will either always, or almost always, be required and the need for it will either always, or almost always, override any religious objection.
non-invasive procedures must be capable of being performed without imposing an additional cost burden on the coroner. In practice, the family will have to pay the fee (usually around £500).

Histology & Toxicology

A full PM can include the removal and retention of small tissue samples for examination under a microscope. In most cases the process is very much like having a biopsy in life – the samples are approximately the size and thickness of a little fingernail. Sometimes whole organs may be retained for closer examination.

Small quantities of blood, urine or other body fluids may also be taken if the Pathologist needs to check for the presence of alcohol, over the counter medications, prescribed medications or drugs of abuse.

The Coroner/pathologist may not need the family’s consent to remove tissue/organs.

However, the Coroner must notify the family that samples are being preserved or retained, the period for which they are required to be preserved or retained and the options for dealing with them once that period has expired. Those options are as follows:-

The hospital should lawfully and sensitively dispose of any samples (which may include cremation).
The hospital should retain any samples either as part of the deceased’s clinical record only or for use in education and training.
The samples should be reunited with the body prior to the body being released for a funeral (which may delay funeral arrangements).
The samples should be returned to the family for a separate funeral at their own expense.

PRACTICAL TIP – When a PM has taken place, double-check with the Coroner’s officer that all tissue/organs have been reunited with the body. If there is likely to a delay, ask for an accurate time estimate.

Registering the Death

When do you register?

Registration of the death by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages must be done:-

after the Registrar has received the MCCD and/or consent from the Coroner to register.
before burial or repatriation overseas can take place.
within 5 days of the death – this includes weekends and bank holidays.

Where do you register?

An appointment will need to be booked with the Registrar in the local authority area where the death occurred (not where the deceased lived). They are usually located in Civic/Council buildings. In some areas, appointments can only be booked by telephone (e.g. Reading). In other areas, bookings can be made online (e.g. Northampton).

Who can attend the appointment?

A relative should register the death. If a relative cannot register the death, you can do it if you:

were there at the time of death
are an administrator from the hospital (if the person died in hospital)
are in charge of making funeral arrangements

What you need to do?

You will need to tell the Registrar:

the person’s full name at the time of death
any names previously used, eg maiden name
the person’s date and place of birth
their last address
their occupation
the full name, date of birth and occupation of a surviving or late spouse or civil partner
whether they were getting a State Pension or any other benefits

PRACTICAL TIP:- I would recommend that you take the deceased’s passport with you so that no errors are made when recording the name on the death certificate. Sometime the deceased’s name will be spelt one way on the passport but differently on other formal documents such as the driving licence. You should ask the Registrar to record all such variations on the death certificate.

PRACTICAL TIP:- In Greater Manchester, Bolton, Salford and Bury, Council employees of the Muslim Faith have sought training and qualified as volunteer Deputy Registrars in order to issue green burial forms out of hours.

Documents you will receive

When you register a death you will get:

Death Certificate
Certificate for Burial (the ‘green form’ which allows burial to take place).
Certificate of Registration of Death (form BD8) – you may need to fill this in and return it if the person was getting a State Pension or benefits (the form will come with a pre-paid envelope so you know where to send it)
Government booklet entitled ‘What to do after a death in England and Wales’ which is a detailed guide on what you must do and the help you can get in respect to the various issues that arise following a death.
Information regarding the Tell Us Once Service which will allow you to inform local and central government once of a bereavement. More about this service can be found on the following website www.gov.uk/tell-us-once

Costs

There is no charge for the Registrar service. However, the Death Certificates cost £11.00 each. The Registrar will print off as many copies as you request. I suggest that 3 – 5 should be more than adequate; banks/building societies often require originals.

Death Abroad

Once the body is home, take the death certificate to the register office in the area where the funeral is taking place.

As the death has already been registered abroad, the registrar will give you a ‘certificate of no liability to register’. Give this to the funeral director so the funeral can go ahead.

If you’re arranging the funeral yourself, give the certificate back to the registrar after the funeral’s taken place. You must do this within 96 hours of the funeral.

Further information is available here:-

https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/death-abroad

Release of Body from Mortuary

Practice varies across the Country and I would therefore recommend that you liaise with your local bereavement office/funeral director.

In cases referred to the Coroner, it is the Coroner that has legal control over the body and the mortuary cannot release it without the Coroner’s consent.

In other cases, in which the Coroner is not involved, the executor of a will, not the next of kin, has the primary claim to possession and could demand its release. If there is no will, then the next of kin would be entitled to exercise control of the body and could insist upon release.

However, the law relating to control of the body does not determine what happens in practice.

In some places, the bereavement office’s confirmation that the cause of death has been established is sufficient for the mortuary to release the body. This is on the basis that the MCCD has been agreed and will follow and burial cannot in any event take place until the green form has been issued.

In other counties, the mortuary will not release the body until the MCCD has been done, but will not require the green form from the Registrar.

In these first two scenarios, although the burial cannot take place, the early release of the body does at least allow the body to be moved to the Mosque and for the ghusl (ritual washing) to take place, both of which bring enormous comfort to the family.

Sadly in some areas, the mortuary will not release the body until after the MCCD has been done, the death has been registered and the green form has been issued by the Registrar. This is despite the fact neither the MCCD nor the green form is a legal requirement for the release of a body. The following reasons are given:-

a dead body is a possible source of infection so there is a need to ensure the protection of public health.
up until the green form is issued, new information relating to the death could come to light meaning that the Registrar finds themselves under a duty to report the death to the Coroner. The Coroner may then have to take possession of the body which could cause even more distress to the family.
a funeral director having the green form is a way for the mortuary to confirm that the body is being released to the right person.

However, in reality:-

funeral directors are well practised in dealing with infection, particularly post-Covid.
the attending doctor and Medical Examiner will have considered the medical notes and treatment given and spoken with the family before the MCCD is done. It is therefore quite unlikely that any significant new information will emerge in the period between the issue of the MCCD and the appointment for registration. Occasionally the cause of death offered is not suitable for registration purposes; in such cases the Registrar will simply telephone the attending doctor or Coroner to agree an amendment.
there are other ways of confirming that the body is being released to the correct person e.g. checking the next of kin named on the hospital system; insisting upon personal identifiers; and/or requiring the funeral director to sign a declaration to confirm that they are authorised by the executor/next of kin to take lawful possession of the body.

The Department of Health’s 2006 publication “Good Practice Guidance for NHS Mortuary Staff” does encourage flexibility:-

“2.56 Mortuary staff should make all reasonable attempts to accommodate a family’s request for a deceased person’s body to be released quickly, and explain the reasons for any delay. Hospitals need robust procedures in place to ensure the bodies of people who have died are released correctly (see paragraphs 2.37 – 2.38), and common practice is to provide the hospital with a certificate of disposal (‘the green form’) before a body is released. However, where the death is not referred to the Coroner, and a certificate of the cause of death is available, it might be helpful to

consider what alternative documentation would be acceptable. This might be particularly appropriate when the local community includes groups whose faith indicates vigil or early burial after death. Where staffing permits, arrangements for releasing a deceased person’s body outside normal mortuary hours might also be considered”.

I also note that in Hansard, on 30^th October 2013, the then Minister of State for the Department for Health, Norman Lamb stated:-

“Following the concerns being raised with us, my Department re-circulated advice on the release of bodies to the NHS in a 26 October 2012 edition of The Week bulletin, to highlight to NHS trusts that having sight of the green form was not a legal requirement for the release of bodies, that holding bodies can cause unnecessary delays, and informing them of proposals to consult on a draft body release form as part of the consultation on death certification reforms. I want to reinforce the point that a delay in the release of the body can also be distressing for loved ones, who are going through bereavement. Ensuring that the process works efficiently is incredibly important”.

More recently, the National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No.2 published in April 2021 states:-

“In some circumstances, bereaved families may have particular reasons to request urgent release of the deceased’s body for burial. When hospital mortuaries refuse to release the body until the MCCD is completed, it can cause distress to the bereaved. Implementation of the medical examiner system presents an opportunity to expedite urgent release of the body in many cases, while mitigating the risk of urgent release of the body being agreed when it is not appropriate”.

PRACTICAL TIP:- Funeral directors should arrange for the executor/next of kin to sign a form confirming that executor/next of kin is entitled to take lawful possession of the body for the purpose of burial and that they authorise the funeral director to collect the deceased person and any property from the mortuary. The National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No.2 contains an exemplar form at Annex 2 which could be used:-

https://www.rcpath.org/uploads/assets/3590bf7f-a43e-4248-980640c5c12354c4/Good-Practice-Series-Urgent-release-of-a-bodyFor-Publication.pdf

PRACTICAL TIP:- Community leaders, Mosques and funeral directors ought to meet with the hospital/local authority in their local area to agree a policy. My recommendation is that the policy should be flexible enough to accommodate straightforward faith deaths. For example and by way of illustration, where there is an expected death from natural causes in hospital and the cause of death proposed by the attending doctor has been agreed by the Medical Examiner and is uncontroversial, the body ought to be released to the executor/next of kin’s funeral director without insisting upon either the MCCD or green form.

Washing of the body (Ghusl)

The body of a Muslim must be washed in accordance with strict procedures, known as “ghusl”. Not all Mosques have the necessary washing table and other facilities so it is best to check in advance with the funeral director. The alternative is to use a funeral home.

It is also sensible to ensure that the items required for ghusl are all present e.g. surgical gloves, cotton, clean towels, rose water, powdered camphor etc.

The shroud or “kafan” cloth can be provided by the family or may be available at the Mosque.

Where a family has used the Mosque’s own supply of items, it is customary to make a financial donation to the Mosque so that they can replenish the stock for the next family.

Those performing the ghusl will themselves need to shower and change their clothes before they can perform the janaza prayers. This will to be factored into the timescales.

You will need to ensure that the ghusl is completed prior to the funeral prayers.

Funeral Prayers (Janaza)

The Janaza prayers can take place in the Mosque or at the graveyard (as was often done during the Covid pandemic).

The method of reading the prayers can vary across the different traditions so it best to speak with your own Imam.

The Imam will usually invite those attending the funeral to contact a nominated family member to deal with any outstanding financial affairs that they may have had with the deceased.

The family may wish to provide food to those who have travelled from afar; the Mosque may be able to assist but is it advisable to check.

Burial – UK

The funeral director will need the green form from the Registrar before burial can take place.

Graves are generally leased for around 100 years.

Advance notification will need to be given to the cemetery so that the grave can be dug and prepared.

In some cemeteries you may have a choice of grave type including brick lined/vaulted. Preparation time and cost can vary.

Some traditions bury in a shroud without a coffin.

In some areas, the soil type means that members of the congregation cannot enter the grave (e.g. in order to re-position the deceased) without a risk that the grave might collapse around them. Hydraulic shoring may therefore be used.

Most graveyards use a mechanical digger but should allow some backfilling by hand.

It also worth checking if headstones/memorials are permitted as they are not in lawned grave areas.

Some cemeteries allow reservation/pre-purchase; others do not.

Travel & Burial (Overseas)

To enable repatriation/transportation of a body overseas, you will need:-

Specialist funeral director who is able to embalm the body and provide a zinc-lined coffin, appropriately wrapped. However, it is usually the family themselves that will arrange transportation from the airport and the burial plot. You may wish to seek clarification in relation to what products/chemicals are used in the embalming process.

Freedom from infection letter. The airline and the receiving country will require confirmation that the body does not carry any infection. The treating doctor, bereavement office or mortuary should be asked to prepare a simple letter stating that to the best of their knowledge, the deceased is free from infection.

Death certificate from the Registrar at the Council.

Out of England Certificate from Coroner. The Coroner will need a Removal Notice Form 104 (see link) completed by the funeral director, the Death Certificate and the deceased’s photo ID (e.g. passport/driving licence). No fee is payable. Form 104 says that the body must not be removed out of the Country until four clear days have elapsed after notice has been given to the Coroner. However, the Form also says that in the case of urgency, the body can be removed earlier if the applicant funeral director contacts the Coroner in person and the Coroner is satisfied that no further enquiries are necessary.

Deceased’s passport/visa documents.

Travel to Pakistan

It is advisable to send the coffin size to the overseas cemetery in advance,

remembering to include the handles when measuring the width. The family must also arrange transportation (van/ambulance) from the airport.

The funeral directors will need to provide the following documents to the airline in order for the body to be accepted as cargo on to the airplane:-

Document 2, 3 and 4 above.
Pakistani passport OR British passport and NADRA/NICOP card.
Name of person receiving the body in Pakistan (consignee). It is recommended that the name of one person from the receiving family in Pakistan is given in order to save time upon the arrival of the flight.

It is my understanding that PIA will not charge for the transportation of a body but other airlines do.

When you arrive at the airport for departure from the UK, you should notify the check-in clerk that you are repatriating a deceased love one so that they can check if the body has arrived into cargo. They may need the cargo reference number; your funeral director will be able to provide this.

Once you have boarded the airplane, I recommend that you also check with the flight crew that the body has definitely been placed onboard.

The funeral directors should also be able to give you a reference number which can be given to the family in Pakistan so that they can get the body released whilst you are awaiting your luggage. This code is usually something along the lines of “AWB:- 214/77530250”.

Out of Hours Services

The scope and availability of services at weekends, on public holidays etc varies across the Country. I suggest that you liaise with your local funeral director to determine availability where you live.

In some areas the Coroner and Registrar are available out of hours but there is no Medical Examiner provision. In other places, the mortuary might not be accessible during the evening or at weekends. Some cemeteries do not provide out of hours burials.

PRACTICAL TIP:- would recommend that community leaders, Mosques and funeral directors meet with the relevant authorities to facilitate and/or expand out of hour services. The following may assist during such discussions:-

Medical Examiner

The National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No.8 published in August 2022 recommends that:-

“…all medical examiner offices need some out-of-hours provision, but it would not normally be expected or sustainable for each medical examiner office to make its own individual arrangements; there is no requirement for 24/7 cover at present. There are several options for providing out-of-hours arrangements for urgent completion of MCCDs. For example, including out-of-hours arrangements in medical examiner rota arrangements, exchanging a weekday session for a weekend session; working across a network of medical examiner offices; or through Integrated Care Systems in England, or wider systems and groups. If appropriate, outof-hours arrangements could be different for evenings (covered by each local office) and weekends (covered by a network arrangement)”.

The National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No.2 published in April 2021 recommends that:-

“Where the medical examiner service is available out of hours, doctors on duty could contact the medical examiner to discuss the case. The doctor may not have treated the patient in life but can determine from the medical records if the death appears to be natural and expected or explainable. Discussion with a medical examiner may enable this doctor to approve release of the body out of hours and make provision for the team or consultant who was responsible for the patient to complete the MCCD the following morning. It provides additional assurance to the on-duty doctor, enabling them to liaise between families, doctors who provided care, and mortuary and bereavement services, and to complete the release of the body form, with the MCCD being completed by a qualified attending practitioner later”.

At a Conference on 16th September 2023, the National Medical Examiner, Dr Alan Fletcher, stated that funding has been identified for out of hours provision for every region. The expectation is that Medical Examiner availability will at least mirror out of the hours Registrations services.

Coroner

Regulation 4 of The Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 states that:-

“A coroner must be available at all times to address matters relating to an investigation into a death which must be dealt with immediately and cannot wait until the next working day”.

However, in practice this tends to relate to road traffic deaths and suspected homicides where the Police need urgent consent to move a body.

General out of hours access and services are limited.

Most Coroners now have a cloud-based case management system meaning that forms can be generated and signed with ease. However, it is usually Coroner’s officers who input the details into the system and create those forms. Coroner’s officers are generally employed by the Police or Local Authority and may not work out of hours or at weekends.

However, in my experience most Coroners have good working relationships with local Mosques and Muslim funeral directors and will do their best to accommodate faith needs.

Death registration

Most areas do have some degree of out of hours registration provision. Registrars do of course quite often have other duties at weekends e.g. officiating over weddings.

Again, the best point of contact is your local funeral director who ought to know what hours are available. Some registrations offices even have an emergency email address or mobile number.

PRACTICAL TIP:- Some registration offices offer a short emergency appointment at which only the green form is provided. That enables burial to take place (in the UK but not overseas). You can then return a day or so later to complete the full registration process and obtain the death certificate.

Mortuary

The mortuary is usually in the hospital but will not be accessible 24/7. By way of example, the mortuary in my local hospital has the following opening hours:-

Monday to Friday 08:30 – 16:30

Saturday 08:00 – 12:00

The Department of Health’s 2006 publication “Good Practice Guidance for NHS Mortuary Staff” does state:-

“2.56 …Where staffing permits, arrangements for releasing a deceased person’s body outside normal mortuary hours might also be considered”.

The National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No.2 published in April 2021 recommends that Medical Examiners:-

“Actively consider opportunities to facilitate release of a body out of hours with

colleagues in other departments such as mortuary and bereavement services”.

Cemetery

Some areas have privately owned Muslim graveyards. However, the vast majority are council owned. Some Councils have outsourced the management of graveyards to private companies such as idverde. Negotiating out of hours access can therefore be challenging but is entirely possible.