Corpse - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition corpse

Definition :

Corpse. Removing a corpse from a grave is a misdemeanour at Common Law, Reg. v. Sharpe, (1857) 26 LJ C 47; R. v. Kenyon, (1901) 36 LJ News. 571. Refusing to bury dead bodies by those whose duty it is to do so is punishable by the temporal courts, independently of spiritual censures, on indictment or information. There is no property in a dead body, Williams v. Williams, (1882) 20 Ch D 659.

Dissection.--The (English) Anatomy Act, 1832 (2 & 3 Wm. 4, c. 75), makes dissection legal. See DISSECTION.

As to post-mortem examinations, see (English) Public Health Act, 1936 (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8, c. 49), ss. 161 to 163, and Public Health (London) Act, 1936; for disposing of infectious bodies, see the same Acts respectively.

A gaoler cannot detain the dead body of a person in his custody under a ca. sa. (capias ad satisfaciendum) until the executors of the deceased person satisfy his pecuniary claims upon the deceased, R. v. Fox, (1841) 2 QB 246; S.C. Re Wakefield, (1841) 1 G&D 566.See BURIAL and CREMATION.