The Law of the Dead: A Critical Review of Burial Law, with a View to its Development

This article critically reviews the present condition of burial law.
Situating burial within the wider context of the ‘law of the dead’, it is observed that
contemporary changes to the law have served to clarify and reinforce the
individual’s power to determine what will happen to his or her organs and tissues
upon death. An equivalent right to posthumous bodily self-determination has not
been extended to the neglected area of burial, and it is recommended that burial
law therefore needs to be updated. A series of solutions is elaborated in order to
illustrate how these developments could be realized effectively in practice.