Question reference: S5W-22290
- Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 21 March 2019
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Current status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 4 April 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21302 by Humza Yousaf on 26 February 2019, once a body is repatriated, under what circumstances a fiscal will instruct a local enquiry to be carried out to clarify how a person died.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21307 which I answered on 11 February 2019, which states:
When the remains of a person resident in Scotland who has died abroad are repatriated to Scotland the repatriation requires to be reported to the Death Certification Review Service (DCRS). Medical examiners within DCRS are responsible for ensuring that no burial or cremation of such remains occurs where there is no acceptable form of death certification. DCRS has a budget for post-mortem examinations in such circumstances. Where it appears that the death has occurred in suspicious circumstances (information about which may come from paperwork accompanying the body or from nearest relatives or funeral directors instructed by them) DCRS will intimate the circumstances to the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. SFIU/COPFS may then take control of the remains and instruct a post-mortem examination. In deciding whether or not a post mortem should be instructed, the Procurator Fiscal will consult with the pathologist instructed by the Crown.
“SFIU and DCRS are in frequent contact regarding deaths, and the system works well. It is not considered that there is any need for these arrangements to be re-examined.
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