Filenews 6 July 2024
The Ministry of Interior has submitted to Parliament a bill through which it "buries" illegal funeral homes, in order to bring order to this sector, given that the whole situation, in addition to the controversies between professionals of the kind, also affects the relatives involved in the burial process of their loved ones.
The explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill and signed by the Attorney General states that its purpose is to tighten the existing legislative framework for the provision of funeral and embalming services in order to combat phenomena of operation of illegal funeral homes and provision of funeral and embalming services by unlicensed and untrained persons.
It is added that the provision of funeral and embalming services is directly related to public health and the existing legislative framework does not provide for dissuasive penalties, resulting in the offenders continuing their illegal activity unabated.
It is also intended to provide for the possibility of deletion from the registers of funeral officers and embalmers, persons who have not renewed their license for 5 consecutive years, while it is clarified that for the purposes of registration in the relevant registers, for holders of diplomas recognized by the Council for the Registration of Funeral Officers and Embalmers, previous success in written examinations and participation in an educational program are not required.
Finally, it is now possible to receive and transport bodies, in the context of providing funeral services, to any employee of a funeral home and not only to funeral directors as was the case until today.
