Cross border transfer of bodies for funerals
Cross border transfers can be both in to and out of Scotland, from or to another UK country.
Where a death is registered in another part of the UK and the deceased is moved to Scotland for the funeral, the death would already have gone through the requisite review processes that exist in the other UK country, and further review in Scotland would not be routinely required.
Where a death is registered in Scotland and the deceased is to be moved to another UK country for the funeral the death will be subject to the Scottish scrutiny process but may not be randomised for a review.
Repatriation of bodies
Healthcare Improvement Scotland is required to verify foreign death certificates and associated paperwork in order to authorise burial or cremation. Further advice is available from the Death Certification Review Service, who have produced a downloadable digital leaflet on deaths abroad, available at this link.
Emergency suspension of reviews
Scottish Ministers have the power to suspend the system of reviews for example in the event of a serious epidemic. Where such a suspension has been made, all randomised selection of cases will stop and reviews already underway will halt and the registration will be completed without these.