Anyone who has learned of the death or found human remains and is not aware whether the demise, or the discovery thereof have already been reported shall be subject to the notification duty. Human remains are to be understood as a dead human body, parts thereof and a stillborn child.
Within 96 hours as from the notification of the demise by way of receiving a Post Mortem Examination Report (Part B2), it is necessary to arrange for the final disposal according to the manner preferred by the deceased while alive (where such a wish of the deceased is known), by means of ordering services from the crematorium or public burial ground operator.
The discovery of human remains outside the medical facility shall be reported to the common European emergency number 112 or directly to the general practitioner during operating hours or to the physician performing emergency medical service, or to the physician whom the relevant local self-governing regional authority has a contract for this purpose with (coroner).
The final disposal of human remains may only be carried out by the disposal in a grave or a tomb in a public or private burial ground, or by cremation in a crematorium. A different way of "the final disposal" based upon the request of the deceased or bereaved persons cannot be respected (for example, placing the body in water or in a grave on a private land). Anatomical-pathological waste generated in facilities of a health care services provider shall not be disposed of, even if anyone orders so. Such a ban shall also apply to cadavers of breeding animals, i.e., of pets, which we dispose of in a veterinary incinerator or in especially veterinary ground, colloquially called pet crematorium or in pet cemeteries.
Body Donation for Science, Research and Learning Purposes
Selfless donation of the body after death for medical needs is justified and praiseworthy. The donated bodies (after few years) are cremated in a crematorium at the expense of the medical facility. As a rule, an ecumenical service and requiem is held once a year.
Terms and Conditions for Donation:
- donation contract with specified medical facility or anatomic faculty
- provable written consent filed in the medical documentation
If the deceased has not expressed verifiably his/her will during the lifetime, a provable written consent with the use of the body of the deceased may be granted by a bereaved person. Determination of the purpose of use of the body of the deceased shall be part of such a consent.
Final disposal arrangement may be contracted on the premises of any funeral home those from abroad included.
If the body of the deceased may be transferred by self-help while using own carriers or ceremonial vehicles, it is possible to arrange for a final disposal directly with the operator of a crematorium or a burial ground (common in the countryside or for religious bereaved persons). Similarly, as in any other service segment, it is the most comprehensive product that has got the largest added value; in this case especially a procession with a coffin having a ceremonial character, through which the bereaved and the public accompany the deceased to his final resting place. In addition, if the funeral procession moves on a nearby local cemetery from the place of death, then it is just the family grave, which has the greatest value, because it is the pinnacle of capital and funeral ritual - it provides piety as close as possible to the customer without unnecessary, sometimes undignified transfer to crematorium and temporary storage of the body of a deceased in the morgue. The fact that a professional funeral home has the best technical equipment for refrigeration and transport does not mean that the provided funeral services are decent.