Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Registration of Births and Deaths (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 9th September 2024.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

Amendment of the Registration of Births and Deaths (England and Wales) Regulations 1987

2.—(1) The Registration of Births and Deaths (England and Wales) Regulations 1987 are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation)( 3)—

(a) omit the definition of “certificate of cause of death”;

(b) omit the definition of “name, surname and qualification”.

(3) In regulation 2B(2) (declarations and certificates in an approved electronic form)( 4), omit sub-paragraphs (i), (j) and (k).

(4) In regulation 6(1)(a) (registration in more than one place)( 5), for the words “45 or 47(4)”, substitute “or 45”.

(5) Omit—

(a) regulation 40 (certificate of cause of death);

(b) regulation 41 (reference to coroner).

(6) In regulation 42 (registration within twelve months from the date of death where no report to coroner)( 6)—

(a) for the heading, substitute “Registration where no report to coroner”;

(b) for paragraph (1), substitute—

“(1)  Paragraph (1A) applies where—

(a) the relevant registrar receives from any qualified informant information of the particulars required to be registered concerning a person’s death;

(b) no investigation into the death under Part 1 of the 2009 Act is conducted; and

(c) in accordance with regulations under section 20 of the 2009 Act (medical certificate of cause of death)—

(i) the registrar is given a confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or a medical examiner’s certificate, and

(ii) the registrar is not required to invite the medical examiner to issue a revised confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or a revised medical examiner’s certificate.

(1A)  The registrar shall register the death and the particulars, if not previously registered, in the presence of the informant on form 13, entering the particulars required in spaces 1 to 7 and 9 in accordance, where applicable, with the following provisions of this regulation. ”;

(c) for paragraph (4), substitute—

“(4)  In space 9 (cause of death) the registrar—

(a) shall enter the cause of death precisely as stated in the confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or in the medical examiner’s certificate, and

(b) shall enter the words—

(i) “Established by .. ...”, inserting the name, surname and qualifications of the attending practitioner who signed the attending practitioner’s certificate, as stated in the certificate, followed by the words “Scrutinised and confirmed by .. .. Medical Examiner”, inserting the name, surname and qualifications of the medical examiner who confirmed the cause of death, as stated in the certificate, or

(ii) “Established and confirmed by .. .. Medical Examiner, following referral by a coroner”, inserting the name, surname and qualifications of the medical examiner who signed the medical examiner’s certificate, as stated in the certificate. ”.

(7) In regulation 42A (declaration and registration under section 23A of the Act)( 7)—

(a) in paragraph (3), for “Except in a case to which regulation 41 applies, where, substitute “Where”;

(b) in paragraph (4)(b), for the words from “as it appears” to “the Act”, substitute “as it appears in the confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate or in the medical examiner’s certificate given to the registrar in accordance with regulations under section 20 of the 2009 Act”.

(8) For regulation 43 (registration where inquest is not held)( 8), substitute—

“Registration where inquest is not held

43.— (1)   Where the registrar is notified by the coroner that an investigation into a death has been discontinued under section 4 of the 2009 Act and the coroner certifies the cause of death in his notification, the registrar shall, subject to paragraph (2), take such action as may be required to register the death and the particulars on form 13, in accordance with regulation 42(2) to (7) or, if a declaration is made for the purposes of section 23A of the Act, in accordance with regulation 42A(4).

(2)  The registrar shall enter in space 9 of form 13 the cause of death precisely as stated in the notification from the coroner followed by the words—

(a) “Certified by .. .. for .. .. following investigation without post-mortem and without inquest”; or

(b) “Certified by .. .. for .. .. after post-mortem without inquest”;

as the case may be, inserting in the places provided the name, surname and description of the coroner and the name of the area for which the coroner has jurisdiction.

(3)  Paragraph (4) applies where—

(a) no confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or medical examiner certificate, has been issued in accordance with regulations under section 20 of the 2009 Act in relation to a death;

(b) the registrar is notified by the coroner that they do not intend to conduct an investigation into the death, and

(c) at the time of the death, the deceased had a relevant association with a visiting force.

(4)  The registrar shall take such action as may be required to register the death and the particulars on form 13, in accordance with regulation 42(2) to (7) or, if a declaration is made for the purposes of section 23A of the Act, in accordance with regulation 42A(4), except that the registrar shall enter in space 9 of form 13 the cause of death precisely as stated in the coroner’s notification.

(5)  In paragraph (3), references to a visiting force, and to a person’s having, at the time of death, a relevant association with a visiting force, have the meaning given to those expressions in section 12 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952( 9) .

(6)  This regulation is subject to regulation 43A. ”.

(9) After regulation 43 (registration where inquest is not held), insert—

“Registration where a coroner’s certificate is provided to the registrar on request by the registrar

43A.— (1)   This regulation applies where a death has not already been registered and—

(a) the coroner discontinues an investigation under section 4 of the 2009 Act;

(b) the coroner authorises the disposal of the body; and

(c) a qualified informant is unable or unwilling to provide and verify the particulars required to be registered in accordance with either regulation 42(2) to (7) or 42A(4).

(2)  The registrar may request the coroner to provide a certificate stating any particulars required to be registered in accordance with the provisions of this regulation, so far as they have been ascertained by the coroner at the date of the certificate.

(3)  On receipt of the coroner’s certificate the registrar shall register the death and the particulars in form 13, in accordance with regulation 45, except that—

(a) in space 7.(a) the registrar shall enter the words “Certificate received from .. .. pursuant to section 23(4) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.”, inserting the name and surname of the coroner in the place provided as stated in the certificate from the coroner;

(b) in spaces 7.(b), 7.(c) the registrar shall enter no particulars and draw a line through those spaces;

(c) in space 9 the registrar shall enter the cause of death precisely as stated in the certificate from the coroner, in accordance with regulation 43(2). ”.

(10) In regulation 44 (noting of existing entry on coroner’s notification of cause of death)( 10)—

(a) for “Regulation 43(2)”, substitute “Regulation 43(1)”;

(b) for ““Post-mortem without inquest held by the direction of .. ..””, substitute ““Inquest discontinued under section 4 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 by .. ..””;

(11) In regulation 44A (registration after receipt of declaration and coroner’s notification of cause of death)( 11) for “43(2)”, substitute “43(1)”.

(12) In regulation 45 (registration after inquest)( 12)—

(a) in the heading, after “inquest”, insert “, or after an investigation by the coroner is suspended”;

(b) for the words from “, before” to “follows”, substitute “the relevant registrar receives with reference to a death a coroner’s certificate after an inquest, or after an investigation is suspended under Schedule 1 to the 2009 Act or under section 7(1B) and (2) of the Visiting Forces Act 1952( 13), the relevant registrar shall register the death (whether or not it has already been registered) as follows”.

(13) In regulation 46 (noting of previous entry on registration after inquest), omit the words “or 47(4)”.

(14) Omit regulation 47 (registration after twelve months)( 14).

(15) In regulation 49 (certificates and declaration for disposal)( 15), after paragraph (3), insert—

“(4)  Where a confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or a medical examiner certificate given to the registrar in accordance with regulations under section 20 of the 2009 Act, embodies medical device information in accordance with those regulations, the registrar shall furnish the medical device information to the person giving information concerning the death, together with the approved form given under paragraph (1). ”.

(16) In regulation 55(2) (correction of minor clerical errors after completion)( 16)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (f)(iii), at the end, insert “confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or medical examiner certificate,”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (f)(v), for the words “after post-mortem without inquest”, substitute “that an investigation into a death has been discontinued under section 4 of the 2009 Act”.

(17) In regulation 57 (correction of other clerical errors after completion)( 17), after “56”, insert “, 58A”.

(18) In regulation 58 (correction of errors of fact or substance)( 18), after “Regulation”, insert “58A or”.

(19) After regulation 58, insert—

“Correction of errors on notification by medical examiner

58A.— (1)   This regulation applies—

(a) to a death in relation to which the registrar has been given a confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or a medical examiner’s certificate, in accordance with regulations under section 20 of the 2009 Act; and

(b) the registrar, or the superintendent registrar having the custody of the register where the death has been registered, receives notification from the medical examiner of any error of fact or substance relating to the cause of death pursuant to section 29(3A)(b) of the Act.

(2)  The registrar, or the superintendent registrar—

(a) shall send a report to the Registrar General, enclosing a copy of the entry and of the medical examiner’s notification; and

(b) shall correct the error by entering a marginal note in the following form—

“In space .. .. corrected to .. .. on .. .. by me .. .. registrar [or superintendent registrar] on receipt of notification from the medical examiner”

and shall enter the particulars of the correction and complete the note in the places provided. ” . ”.

(20) After regulation 66 (short certificate of birth in respect of certain children admitted to the Foundling Hospital), insert—

“Application for short certificate of death

66A.— (1)   Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the particulars to be furnished on an application under section 33A(1) of the Act for a short certificate of the death of any person shall be—

(a) the name and surname of the person;

(b) the date of death; and

(c) the place of death or the place where the death was registered.

(2)  Any particulars required under paragraph (1) may be omitted where, in the opinion of the person to whom an application is made, it is not reasonably practicable for the applicant to furnish those particulars.

(3)  No particulars shall be required if the application is made at the time of registering the death.

Form of short certificate of death

66B.   The form of short certificate of death to be issued under section 33A of the Act—

(a) by a superintendent registrar or registrar, shall be form 22A;

(b) by the Registrar General, shall be form 22B.

Compilation of short certificate of death

66C.— (1)   A short certificate of death under section 33A of the Act shall be compiled, from the records and registers in the custody of the Registrar General or from the registers in the custody of the superintendent registrar or registrar, in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2)  In the case of a certificate in form 22A the superintendent registrar or registrar shall complete the certificate in the places provided inserting the relevant particulars from the death entry.

(3)  In the case of a certificate in form 22B the certificate shall be completed by inserting in the places provided the relevant particulars from the records and registers in the custody of the Registrar General. ”.

(21) Schedule 2 (prescribed forms)( 19) is amended as follows—

(a) in the table headed “CONTENTS”—

(i) omit the rows beginning “14”, “15” and “16”;

(ii) after the row beginning “22”, insert—

(b) omit form 14, form 15 and form 16;

(c) after form 22, insert the forms set out under the headings “Form 1”and “Form 2”in the Schedule.

Regulation 2(21)(c)

SCHEDULE Prescribed forms

Form 1

Form 2

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 ( S.I. 1987/2088) (“ the 1987 Regulations”) to prescribe the manner of registration and the information required to be registered by the registrar on receipt of a confirmed attending practitioner’s certificate, or a medical examiner’s certificate given to the registrar in accordance with regulations made under section 20 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25).

The provisions of the 1987 Regulations amended include those concerning the manner of registration of a death where a coroner’s investigation into the death is discontinued under section 4 of the 2009 Act, or suspended under Schedule 1 to the 2009 Act, and with regard to the death of a person who, at the time of death, had a relevant association with a visiting force as defined in section 12 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952 (c. 67).

Provisions are inserted by the Regulations concerning the manner of registration of a death pursuant to section 23(4) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 (c. 20), enabling the registrar to register a death on the basis of a certificate provided by the coroner on request by the registrar, where certain conditions are met.

The Regulations also insert provisions prescribing the form, manner of compilation and particulars to be recorded in a Short Certificate of Death to be issued under section 33A of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.

The Regulations also make amendments consequential to those described above and to the commencement of several provisions contained in Part 1 of Schedule 21 to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, which amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.