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Burials Ordinance (Cap. 17) Consolidated

CHAPTER 17

BURIALS ORDINANCE*

To prohibit the burial of corpses in certain places and to make other provisions in connection therew ith.

(10th May, 1869)†

Enacted by ORDINANCE II of 1869, as amended by Ordinance V of

1873; Act IV of 1955; Legal N otice 4 of l963; Acts: III of 1974, XXII and XXXVI of 1975, XI of 1977, IX of 1982, XIII of 1983 and Legal Notice 407 of 2007.

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Burials Ordinance.

2. (1) The cemetery constructed upon the hill situate within the lim i ts of Tarx ien, to the ri ght of the s lope called Ta l-Pa lma , sh all be th e mai n b u ri al pl ace in M al ta and e ve ry M al tese cit ize n sh all be en titled to be buried in th e said ce me te ry in ac co rd ance with the provisio ns of this Ordinance and of any other relevant law.
(2) Such cemetery shall be called "The Santa Maria Addolorata
Cemetery".

Short title.

Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery. Amended by: XXXVI.1975.2.

3. (1) It shall be lawful for any person to apply, in writing, to th e Superinten de nt of Public Heal th for the gran t of a site, of th e extent of two and one-half metres in length and one metre and five cen timetres in width, in such part of any cemetery belonging to the Government, as, according to a plan made by the Superintendent of Pub lic Health , is app oin ted for th e con stru ction of privat e graves, for th e purpos e of construc ti ng th e re o n, at his e xpe ns e, a gra ve , upon payment in respect of such site of the sum of fifty-eig ht euros and twenty-three cents (58.23).

(2) The said dimensions shall include such parts of the site as hav e alread y, acco rdi ng to the p ro visions o f articles 7 and 8, b een occupied by dividin g walls constructed by others.
(3) From time to time the Superintendent of Public Health may cause t o b e con st ruc ted p riv ate g raves o n u nap pro priated si tes fo r d i s p o s al to ap p lican ts th er ef o r . O n an ap p licatio n f o r th e acquisition of a con structed grave, and if such a constructed g rave is av aila ble, the Su perin tend ent of Pub lic Hea lth sh all req uire t he applicant to pay a su m o f sixty-five euros and eigh ty cents (65.80) that shall be inclusive o f the consideration for the site.
(4) No such ap plicatio n shall be considered unless it is ac co mp an ied by a d ep o sit o f th e ap pro pri ate su m in t he o ffi ce o f the Sup erintendent of Public Health and by a declaratio n signed by the applic an t to the e ffec t tha t ne it her he nor a n y me mb e r of his fa m i ly is the o w ne r of a n y g r a v e or s i te fo r a gr a v e i n a n y Government cemetery:

Demands for grants of sites. Amended by: IV.1955.3;

L.N. 4 of 1963; XXII.1975.2; XI.1977.2; IX.1982.2; XIII.1983.5;

L.N. 407 of 2007.

*See also the Addolorata Cemetery Ordinance (Chapter 18) and Part VI of the Code of

Police Laws (Chapter 10).

†See Proclamation No. 1 of the 10th May, 1869.

Provided that the said Superintenden t may, where he is sa tisfie d o f th e rea l n ee ds o f th e app li can t, gran t exe mpt io n fro m the productio n of the said declaration.
For the purpose of this subarticle, "family" means th e father, the mother, the husband or wife, any brother, sister, son or daug hter of the app licant.
(5) Th e amounts of money expressed in subarticles (1) and (3) m ay be varie d from tim e to tim e by the Minist e r re sponsible for pu bl ic he a l th by m e a n s of a no t i c e in th e Go ve rn m e nt Ga z e t t e referable to a period commencing not earlier than four weeks fro m the date of the notice.

Transfer of graves or sites.

Added by:

XXII.1975.3.

4. (1) No p erson may transfer to any other person any grave or site for a gra ve in any Governm ent ce mete ry without the prio r approv al of th e Superintendent of Pu blic Health.

(2) Th e said Superintenden t may subject his approval to the p rod uction of a d eclaration similar to that referred to in su barticle (4) of arti cle 3 o f t his Ordi nanc e, unl ess h e is satisfie d of th e real needs of the applicant.

Grant of areas. Substituted by: IX.1982.2.

Construction of tombs in crypt. Amended by: L.N. 4 of 1963; XI.1977.2; IX.1982.2.

5. The Superintend ent of Public Health may, up on an application to this effect, and upon th e payment of such fee as may b e fixed b y the said Superin tendent, grant, togeth er with a site, an area, not exceeding twen ty-six metres in surface, contig uous to the s a i d s ite , for the c o ns truc tion of a ddit i ona l gra v e s or for the erection of a chapel.

6. Any grave in any part of a cemetery must be entirely c onstructed underg round, and covered with stones to th e le ve l of th e nearest p at hway ; any sid e of ev ery such grav e, which is not at least sixty centimetres distan t from the nearest po in t of th e ground g ran ted t o th e person to who m th e said g rav e belo ng s, altho ug h it h as been excavated in th e ro ck, must be constructed with a wall of not less than th irty centim et res in thickn ess; and the grave it self must be at least one metre and eigh ty-three centimetres deep:

Provi ded that even su ch g rav es may, wi th th e pe rmission of the M in ister resp onsible for public health, be of a less depth, width, or length, or be con structed on the surface of th e ground.

Dividing wall. 7. Any person constructing a g rave contiguous to ground g r a n te d or d e s t in e d t o be g ra n t e d t o ot he rs , m a y c o ns t r uc t t h e dividing wall, to a thickness of fifteen centimetres, on such ground: and in su ch case, the Superintendent of Public Health, or the person t o whom the said gro un d shall hav e been gra nted, may, for one of th e s i d e s o f an o t h e r g r av e, av ail h i m s elf o f th e w a ll th u s c onstruc ted, on paying to th e po sse ssor of th e fo rme r gra ve , ha lf t h e v a lu e o f th e s a id w a l l , to b e co n s id ere d as a w a ll o f th ir ty centimetres in thickness.

Consent of other possessors necessary in certain cases for raising wall.

8. (1) The possessor of a grave of which on e or more walls, sh all have been pa rtly c onstructed beyo nd his own ground, or the pe rs on who i n th e c o n s truc ti on o f a g r a v e s h a l l h a ve re n d e r e d commo n a wall of another grave, cannot, without the consent of the

possessor of the latter grave, raise such wall above the level of the surface of the pathway nearest to the said grave.
(2) The possessor or person aforesaid may, nevertheless, cover ove r his own gra ve with a c ove r or a mo nu me nt ri sing a bove th e said level, and avail himself of the common wall for the support of su ch work, p rovided he does n ot thereby hinder, or render difficult the ope ni ng of the a d j o ining g r a v e , a nd s a ving a l w a ys the provision s con tained in article 10.

9. (1) Saving th e provisions contained in the foregoing articles, it shall be lawful for any person havin g a grave, in the said c em e tery, outsi de the c rypt of the c h ap e l , to e n cl os e s u ch gra v e

tog e the r w i t h a ny oth e r a r ea gr a n ted to him , w i th w a lls or
ot he rwis e ; t o e re c t o n hi s o w n groun d a ny m onu m e n t or o t h e r struc ture to whic h access may be ha d from th e co mmo n pat hway, w itho u t p a s s i ng ove r s ites g ran ted o r d e s tined to be g ran ted to others; a nd to m ake th ere on an y in sc ri ption he please s; prov ide d th e d e s i g n o f an y s u ch w o r k an d th e d raft o f th e in s c ri p tio n b e approved by the Board referred to in sub article (3) hereof.
(2) It shall also be lawful fo r any perso n having a tomb in the crypt of th e ch ap el, to m ake the re on a ny insc ri ption approved by the s a id Boar d; b u t he ma y no t cons tr uct any wo rk with out the permissi on of th e Ministe r res ponsible for public hea lth, bes ides the approval of the said Board.
(3) For the purposes of this article, there shall be a board, to be known as the Burials Board which shall be composed of a chairman an d two m embe rs a pp oi nte d a nn ual ly by th e M i nist er resp on sib le for public health.

Structures on graves. Amended by: III.1974.2; XI.1977.2.

10. It shall not be lawful for any perso n to erect any structure or mon ument of more than sixty cent imetres in hei ght, if b etween such structure or monument and the nearest structure or monument, th er e s h al l n o t b e a t le as t a di s t an ce of one m e tr e an d tw e n ty cen timetres.

11. (1) Any person obtaining a site with the addition of another ar ea the lim its o f wh ich, in the op inion of th e S upe rin - te nd en t of Pub li c He alt h , ca nn o t be ex ac tly fi xe d by refere nc e t o th e pl an me nt io n ed in a rt ic le 3, sh all , wi th in t en d ay s o f a no ti ce which will be given to him by the sa id Superinte ndent of Public Health, make visible and permanent mark s of the bou ndaries of the site wit h the said area, to the satisfactio n of the Sup erinten dent o f Pub lic Health or of another person appointed by him.

(2) In default of such mark s being made by the grantee within th e sai d t ime, t hey sh all be m ade by th e Su perin ten den t o f Pu bl ic Healt h, wh o, in such case, shal l ex act from th e g ran tee a su m no t larger than the expense incurred.

Structure of more than sixty centimetres in height.

Marks of boundaries of site. Amended by: IV.1955.4; IX.1982.2.

12. (1) The possessor of a private grave in the said cemetery, shall b e gratuito usly all owed, on the o ccasion o f th e bu rial o f an y corpse in that grave, if there shall not be therein sufficient space for s u ch b u ri al, to cau s e th e re m a in s o f co r p s e s , p rev io u s ly b u r ied therein to be, at his expense, remov ed to the gen eral charnel hou se

Charnel house and place of deposit. Amended by: V.1873.1.

to be for s u c h pu rpo s e c o ns t r uc te d a t th e e xpe ns e o f th e
Government.
(2) If the said grave can not be used on account of a recent buri a l, t h e p o s s e s s o r s h a l l , wi tho u t pa ym e n t of a ny fe e , b e p ermit ted t o cau se t he co rp se wh ic h i s to b e bu ri ed th erein , to be placed in deposit in another grave, in a place within the cemetery to be for th at pu rp ose constructed by th e Government, until the said grave may be used according to law.
(3) In the p lace of depo sit men tioned in subarticle (2) of this ar ticle, n o co r p s e o f a m e m b er o f an y co n g r eg atio n s h all b e pe rm it t e d t o be p l a c e d , s o l ong a s t h e r e a re t h e r e i n fo ur ot he r corpses of members of the said congregation.

Effects of prohibition.

Cap. 10.

Conveyance of corpses to churches. Amended by: IX.1982.2.

13 . The prohibition made in virtue of the last preceding article s h all, to all in ten t s an d p u r p o s es , h a v e th e s a m e ef f e c t as a p roh ibiti on m a d e in v i rt u e of article 1 44 of th e Co de of P o lic e Laws.

14 . (1) The said prohibition shall n ot have the effect of p re ven tin g the co nv eyan ce of an y c orpse from the pl ace i n wh ich the de c ea se d ha s died , to any churc h or c h ap e l for a n y re li gious s e r v ice o r o t h e r p u r p o s es , to b e th er eafter co n v ey ed fr o m s u ch church or ch apel for burial in a place authorised acco rding to law.

(2) Moreover, nothing in this Ordinance contain ed sh all affect
t h e ex is tin g l a w s r e s p ec ting f u ner a l e m olu m ents d u e to any ecclesias tic o r re lig io u s b o d y co rp o r ate, in co n n ectio n with th e right of sepu ltu re, which the deceased , befo re th e said prohibition, may have had in any church or chapel.
(3) Finally, except the right of burying corpses in grav es situate within the limits of any of the said places, an y other right over such g rave s, whi ch th e p o sse ssors th ereo f hav e acco rd in g to la w, sh all remain unaffected.

Penalty for false declaration. Added by: XXII.1975.4. Amended by: XIII.1983.5;

L.N. 407 of 2007.

15 . Any person who makes a false declaration fo r the purpo ses of a rti cl e 3 or of a rtic le 4 of th is Ordinanc e sha ll be guilty of an o ffen ce an d sh all b e li able , on co nvi ctio n, t o a fin e (multa) of not less tha n fifty-e ight euros a nd twe nty-t hree ce nts (58.23) but not e xc eed in g t wo hu n dred a nd t h irty -t wo euros and ninety-four cents (232.94).

FORM

[ARTICLE 3]

Application for the non-gratuitous grant o f a site for a grave, with or with out additional area.

To the Superintendent of Pub lic Health
Date................ The undersign ed........(besides the name and surname, the place

of birth, the profession , trade, or other sta te, and the name of the

father, must be stated ) and residing at................................(name of the city o r suburb), No......................................................(address) requests the grant of the site for a grave, marked No ....................... in the ............................................... (East or West, as the ca se may be) Division, Section .............................................................. (to be indicated by the letter), Compartment ................................... (to be indicated by the letter), on the plan of the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery ex istin g in the office of the Superintendent of Pub lic Health.

If, b esides a site for a grave, the grant of another contiguous area is required, the following is to be added-

He further requ ests the grant of an area of ......................... square meters, contiguo us to the said site.
And the undersigned hereby pay s in the said office, the sum of
.............. namely for the site for a grave, and ................. for the contigous area on th e basis of ........................ per square metre.

Signature

Amended by: XIII.1983.4. Substituted by: L.N. 407 of 2007.