Reporting of death

19. The personal particulars of the deceased person shall, on the request of the funeral director, be set forth in the prescribed form and delivered to the funeral director

(a) by the nearest relative of the deceased present at the death or in attendance at the last illness of the deceased,

(b) if no such relative is available, by any relative of the deceased residing or being in the registration division,

(c) if no relative is available, by any adult person present at the death,

(d) by any other adult person having knowledge of the facts,

(e) by the occupier of the premises in which the death occurred, or

(f) by the coroner who has been notified of the death and has made an inquiry or held an inquest regarding the death.

Medical certificate

20. (1) Where

(a) a medical practitioner attended the deceased during his or her last illness, is able to certify the medical cause of death with reasonable accuracy and has no reason to believe that the deceased died under circumstances which require an inquiry or inquest under the Coroners Act,

(b) the death was natural and a medical practitioner is able to certify the medical cause of death with reasonable accuracy and has received the consent of a coroner to complete and sign the medical certificate, or

(c) a coroner conducts an inquiry or inquest into the death under the Coroners Act,

the medical practitioner or the coroner, as the case may be, shall within 48 hours after the death complete and sign a medical certificate in the prescribed form stating in it the cause of death according to the international classification and make the certificate available to the funeral director.

(2) Where

(a) a death occurred without the attendance of a medical practitioner during the last illness of the deceased, or

(b) the medical practitioner who attended the deceased is for any reason unable to complete the medical certificate within 48 hours after the death,

the funeral director or the medical practitioner, as the case may be, shall forthwith notify the coroner.

(3) Where a cause of death cannot be determined within 48 hours after the death and

(a) an autopsy is performed, or

(b) an inquiry or inquest is commenced under the Coroners Act,

and the medical practitioner who performs the autopsy or the coroner who commences an inquiry or inquest under the Coroners Act, as the case may be, considers that the body is no longer required for the purposes of the autopsy, inquiry or inquest, the medical practitioner or the coroner, as the case may be, may, notwithstanding subsection (1), issue and shall make available to the funeral director an interim medical certificate in the form required by the director.

(4) After the conclusion of the autopsy, inquiry or inquest referred to in subsection (3), the medical practitioner or coroner, as the case may be, shall complete and sign the medical certificate required under subsection (1) and deliver it to the director.