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Amendment of section 37 of Principal Act
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11. Section 37 of the Principal Act is amended by—
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(a) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):
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“(1) When a death occurs in the State, it is the duty of—
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(a) a relative, civil partner, cohabitant, next of kin, personal representative or religious superior of the deceased who has knowledge of the required particulars in relation to the death, and
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(b) if there is no such relative, civil partner, cohabitant, next of kin, personal representative or religious superior who can be found or every such person is incapable through ill health of complying with this subsection, each other qualified informant, unless he or she reasonably believes that another qualified informant has complied with it in relation to the death,
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within 3 months from the date of the death—
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(i) to attend before any registrar,
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(ii) there, to give to the registrar, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, in a form standing specified by an tArd-Chláraitheoir, the required particulars of the death, and
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(iii) there, to sign the register relating to the death in the presence of the registrar.”,
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(b) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):
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“(1A) It is the duty of a person referred to at paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) to furnish to a registrar such evidence in his or her possession, or within his or her power to so furnish, relating to the required particulars of the death as may be requested by the registrar.”,
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(c) in subsection (2) —
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(i) the substitution of “non-compliance with subsection (1) or (1A)” for “non-compliance with subsection (1) ”,
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(ii) in paragraph (b), the substitution of “section 42,” for “section 42 and”, and
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(iii) the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b):
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“(ba) to furnish to the registrar such evidence in his or her possession, or within his or her power to so furnish, relating to the required particulars of the death as may be requested by the registrar, and”,
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(d) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):
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(3A) The registrar shall notify the Superintendent Registrar of the registration area to which the registrar is assigned, who shall advise an tArd-Chláraitheoir of a request in that behalf, and an tArd-Chláraitheoir, on production to him or her of such evidence as he or she considers adequate to show that exceptional circumstances exist such that it is necessary for the relief of undue hardship, may direct the Superintendent Registrar to cause the death to be registered notwithstanding that a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) has not signed the register.”,
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and
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(e) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (5) —
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“(5) In this section—
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‘next of kin’ means a person nominated in writing as next of kin by the deceased for the purposes of his or her medical treatment or medical records;
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‘personal representative’ means the executor or executrix or the administrator or administratrix for the time being of a deceased person;
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‘qualified informant’ in relation to a death means—
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(a) a relative, civil partner, cohabitant, next of kin, personal representative or religious superior of the deceased who has knowledge of the required particulars concerned,
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(b) a person present at the death,
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(c) any other person who has knowledge of the required particulars,
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(d) if the death occurred in a building used as a dwelling or a part of a building so used, any person who was in the building or part at the time of the death,
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(e) if the death occurred in a hospital or other institution or in a building or a part of a building occupied by any other organisation or enterprise, the chief officer of the institution, organisation or enterprise (by whatever name called) or a person authorised by the chief officer to perform his or her functions,
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(f) the person who found the body of the person concerned,
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(g) the person who took charge of that body,
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(h) the person who procured the disposal of that body, or
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(i) any other person who has knowledge of the death;
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‘religious superior’ in relation to a deceased person who was a member of a religious body within the meaning of section 45 living as a member of the religious body in an order or community, means the person in charge of the order or community in which the deceased person resided prior to his or her death.”
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