Studying at York
Corpses & Cadavers: The Law of the Dead - LAW00089H
- Department: The York Law School
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
This brand new module seeks to explore the law and regulation dealing with disposal of human corpses. Commencing at the point of medico-legal death, the module initially considers the state's role in death, including court intervention where families wish to keep their loved ones 'alive' with machines. It covers the current law and rituals of land burial, cremation, burial at sea, natural burials, funeral pyres and scattered ashes. The module then goes on to explore new and emerging methods of disposal, such as resomation (a liquifaction process), promession (freeze drying) and other eco-friendly methods such as sky burials, body farms, ocean reef balls and recomposing as a form of bodily compost. Students will also examine more controversial alternatives such as cryonics, partial preservation (i.e. just the head), and where the court intervenes in family battles over frozen corpses. It further examines the legal and ethical aspects of the multiple uses of a corpse, including organ donation, posthumous reproduction, as well as exhumation of the dead and their memorialising.
Professional requirements
N/A
Related modules
This module is to be taken as a standalone module in Year 3
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
Module aims
This module seeks to provide students with a overview of the law and regulation covering disposal of corpses in England & Wales by examining:
- The legal definition of death, and the regulatory aftermath that is triggered;
- The roles of those who are part of the UK's 'death industry';
- The current and commonly available rituals of disposal of the dead;
- The legal rights and responsibilities of disposing of the dead;
- The legal and ethical responsibilities of utilising parts of the dead;
- The need to find new and practical/ethical/legal ways of disposal of the dead.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of this discipline having:
- Undertaken detailed research of:
- Current legislation and regulation in England & Wales governing the module topics covered
- Relevant case law and judicial commentary
- Critically evaluated relevant and appropriate sources including:
- Medico-legal journal articles
- Set texts
- Investigative film documentaries
- Developed their own discussion points and arguments through deep analysis of:
- The morality and ethics of the 'death industry'
- The practicalities and future global impact of the disposal of human corpses
- Solved client-based problems by:
- Analysing the facts of the clients' cases
- Researching the appropriate areas of law
- Applying the legal findings to the clients' cases
- Advising the clients of their legal positions
- Drafted legal advice in different formats such as:
- Client letters
- Solicitors' advice
- Counsels' opinions
Module content
The course intends to focus upon:
Death and its immediate aftermath:
- How the body dies (circulatory/neurological death)
- The agreed medico-legal definition of death
- When families wants to keep a loved one medically ‘alive’
- Court intervention
- The role of the state in deaths
- How registration of death triggers other events
- Unexplained/suspicious deaths
- The legal jurisdiction of the coroner
- Autopsies (including religious and cultural objections)
- Role of the coroner
- Releasing the body – what happens next?
- Mistreatment of bodies (criminal offences)
The current law in E&W surrounding disposal of bodies:
- Burial and its rituals
- Churchyards
- Cemeteries
- Exclusive rights/private burial plots
- Natural burial
- Woodlands
- Fields
- Private land burial
- Burial at sea
- Department of the Environment
- Special licences
- Strict specifications
- Cremation
- Outline of history of cremation
- Modern cremation laws
- Governing legislation and regulations
- Environmental scrutiny
- Licensed cremation or DIY?
- Funeral pyres and Ghai v Newcastle City Council
- Dealing with the ashes – where ashes can/can’t be scattered
New/emerging methods of body disposal:
- Public health concerns
- The controversy of new methods of corpse disposal
- Morality/legal status
- Resomation (liquefaction process)
- Promession (a type of freeze drying)
- Exposure/natural decomposition – eco friendly
- Sky burials
- Body farms
- Reef balls in sea
- Recomposing as compost
- Ashes shot into space
- Preservation
- Partial preservation (just the head)
- Cryonics
- Frozen Corpses and Feuding Parents: Re JS (Disposal of Body)
- Body disposal offences
Legal rights and responsibilities when disposing of the dead:
- Right to possession of a corpse (or its ashes)
- Legal duty of disposal
- The legal framework
- Responsibilities of the deceased’s legal representatives
- Common law
- Scope of right to possession
- Does this end upon internment?
- Can bodies be disinterred?
- The deceased’s funeral wishes
- Funerals – private or public?
- Can you exclude people from funerals?
As above in respect of post-cremation ashes
- Civil causes of action in disposal of the dead
- Should funeral instructions be susceptible to legal challenge?
Utilising parts of the dead:
- The multiple (post-death) uses of a corpse
- Organ donation
- The legal framework
- The Human Tissue Act 2004
- The wishes of the dead versus the preferences of the living
- Legal status of transplant material
- Posthumous reproduction
- The legal framework
- Contracts
- Consent
- Statute
- Family objections
- Legal status of reproductive material
Exhumation of the dead:
- Why exhume?
- Legal authority
- Ecclesiastical route (petition)
- Secular route (s.25 licence)
- Contrasting approaches
- Disinterment disputes with families
- Human rights arguments
- Criminal liability
- Unauthorised exhumation
Memorialising the dead:
- Introduction and why it’s done
- Churchyards
- Who’s legal responsibility to ‘look after’ family graves
- What is and isn’t acceptable in a memorial
- What happens when nature takes over
- Can graveyards be repurposed?
- Cemeteries
- What’s the difference to churchyards?
- How much land do we actually need?
- What are the alternatives?
Virtual memorials
- Commemorating the dead online
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
The assessment will comprise two outputs based on instructions released to the students at the end of the teaching period. These outputs will be designed to assess a range of the module learning outcomes and will differ in format. They will be:
- 1500-word Counsel's legal advice/opinion responding to a solicitor's letter outlining a client problem (from a choice); AND
- 2500-word research essay on one of the topics studied on the course (from a choice).
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Individual comment on assessment within the timescales set by university policy.
Indicative reading
- Heather Conway, The Law and the Dead (2016, Routledge)
-
Edward Kirton-Darling, Death, Family and the Law: The Contemporary Inquest in Context (Bristol University Press 2022)