# Welfare Services Act (Northern Ireland) 1971, Section 25: Burial or cremation of the dead.

Extent: N.I.

(1) It shall be the duty of every [ district council] …. to cause to be buried or cremated the body of any person who has died or been found dead in its [ district], where it appears to the [ district council] that suitable arrangements for the disposal of the body have not been, or are not being, made otherwise than by the [ district council].
Subs.(2) rep. by SRO (NI) 1973/211; subs.(3) rep. by 1972 NI 14
(4) A [ district council] …. … may recover from the estate of the deceased person, or from any person who, for the purposes of [ the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 1972 NI], was liable to maintain the deceased person immediately before his death, expenses incurred under subsection (1)…. . . .
(5) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall affect any enactment regulating or authorising the burial, cremation or anatomical examination of the body of a deceased person; and a body shall not be cremated under this section where the [ district council] has reason to believe that cremation would be contrary to the wishes of the deceased.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/apni/1971/2/section/25 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/welfare-services-act-northern-ireland-1971/section-25
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.