Section 42 Registration of deaths
85.Subsections (2) to (3) and (5) to (7) amend the 1965 Act provisions about the registration of deaths, in the same way that section 39(2) to (7) amends the provisions on the registration of births – see paragraphs 76, 77, 79 and 80 above.
86.Subsection (4) reflects the creation of a single registration district for each local authority area and paves the way for electronic registration by making minor amendments to section 24 of the 1965 Act, which provides for a medical certificate of cause of death.
87.Section 27 of the 1965 Act provides for a free certificate of registration of death for use by the person having charge of the place of interment or cremation. It also makes provision for the person having charge of the place of interment to notify the registrar where a burial has taken place without a certificate of registration of death. Subsection (8) makes minor consequential amendments to existing provisions as a result of the provisions in section 42 that enable a death to be registered anywhere in Scotland.
88.Section 42 came into operation on 1st January 2007, except in relation to electronic registration as described for birth registration at paragraph 80 above.
