Appendix 3 – registration of deaths in Scotland

The law allows a death in Scotland to be registered in any registration district and the death can be registered by a qualified informant. That is:

• any relative of the deceased
• any person present when the person died
• the deceased's executor or other legal representative
• the occupier of the property where the person died
• anyone else who knows the information to be registered

The informant is required to attend a registration office within 8 days of the date of death to register the death. The informant should take with them the following:

• the medical certificate of cause of death (Form 11)
• the deceased's birth and marriage certificate
• the deceased's NHS medical card
• any documents relating to the receipt of a pension or allowance from government funds

The registered medical practitioner who attended the deceased during their last illness has a statutory duty to certify the cause of death on the prescribed form (Form 11) and give it to the informant or to the district registrar. Where no medical practitioner was in attendance, or where they are unable to provide a medical certificate, then any medical practitioner who is able to do so may certify.

A death can be registered in the absence of a qualified informant on the authority of the Registrar General provided they are satisfied that the correct particulars concerning the death are available. When the registration is complete the registrar will give the informant, free of charge:

• a certificate of registration of death for production to the person in charge of burial ground or crematorium
• a Social Security registration or notification of death certificate for use in obtaining or adjusting Social Security benefits
• an abbreviated extract (i.e. excluding cause of death and parentage details) of the death entry

A full extract of the death entry can be obtained for a fee.

A registrar is expected to report any sudden, suspicious, accidental, unexpected or unexplained death to the local Procurator Fiscal. In particular, the Procurator Fiscal will want to know from the registrar of any death where the circumstances or evidence suggest that the death may fall into one or more of the following categories:

• any death due to violent, suspicious or unexplained cause
• any death related to occupation, for example industrial disease or poisoning
• any death involving fault or neglect on the part of another
• any death as a result of abortion or attempted abortion
• possible or suspected suicide
• any death as a result of medical mishap, and any death where a complaint is received which suggests that medical treatment or the absence of treatment may have contributed to the death
• any death resulting from an accident
• any death arising out of the use of a vehicle including an aircraft, ship or train
• any death by drowning
• any death due to poisoning or suspected poisoning, including by prescription or non-prescription drugs, other substances, gas or solvent fumes
• any death by burning or scalding, or as a result of a fire or explosion
• any death due to a notifiable infectious disease, or food poisoning
• certain deaths of children – any death of a newborn child whose body is found, any sudden death in infancy, any death due to suffocation including overlaying, any death of a foster child
• any death in legal custody
• any death of a person of residence unknown, who died other than in a house
• any death at work, whether or not as a result of an accident
• any death where a doctor has been unable to verify a cause

In addition, the certifying doctor also has a duty to report such deaths. So the Procurator Fiscal will normally receive a report from both the registrar and the certifying doctor.