Public Health Act 1936

162 Power of justice to order dead body to be removed to mortuary, or buried forthwith.

(1) If a justice of the peace (acting, if he deems it necessary, ex parte) is satisfied, on a certificate of the medical officer of health of the district in which a dead body lies, or on a certificate of any other registered medical practitioner on the staff of the local authority of that district, that the retention of the body in' any building would endanger the health of the inmates of that building, or of any adjoining or neighbouring building, he may order that the body be removed by, and at the cost of, the local authority to a mortuary, and that the necessary steps be taken to secure that it is buried within a time limited by the order or, if he considers immediate burial necessary, immediately :

Provided that relatives or friends of the deceased person shall be deemed to comply with an order so made if they cause the body to be cremated within the time limited by the order, or, as the case may be, immediately.

(2) Unless relatives or friends of the deceased person undertake to, and do, cause the body to be buried or cremated within the time limited by the order or, as the case may be, immediately, it shall be the duty of the relieving officer of the district within which the body was lying at the time of the application to the justice to cause the body to be buried, and any expenses reasonably incurred by him in so doing may be recovered summarily by the council whose officer he is from any person legally liable to pay the expenses of the burial.

(3) An order under this section shall be an authority to any officer named therein to do all acts necessary for giving effect to the order.