Laws of the Guangdong Province

Administrative Regulations of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Funeral and Interment

(Adopted at the Thirty-seventh meeting of the Standing Committee of the Second Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress on January 11, 2000.)

Chapter ¢ñ General Provisions

Article 1 In order to promote the reform of funeral and interment, strengthen the administration of funeral and interment, accelerate the construction of socialist spirit and civilization, these regulations are formulated according to relevant laws, regulations of state and combining with the actual circumstances of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (hereinafter referred to as Special Zone).

Article 2 The administrative policy of funeral and interment is to exercise overall cremation, forbid arbitrary bury, abolish the bad habits of funeral and interment, and advocate civil and thrifty funeral.

Article 3 The people' s governments at all levels shall attach importance to the work of funeral and interment, strengthen the administration of funeral and interment, and exercise the responsibility system of administration of funeral and interment.

Article 4 The civil department of Shenzhen Municipality and district (hereinafter referred to as the civil department) is the competent department of funeral and interment, which shall perform the following administrative powers and duties of funeral and interment according to law:

(1) to draw up the development plan of the cause of funeral and interment, and to enact the construction plan of funeral and interment facilities together with relevant departments;

(2) to examine and approve the construction of funeral and interment facilities and the service business of funeral and interment according to legal purview and procedure;

(3) to administer and supervise the service business of funeral and interment, and to investigate into and deal with the malfeasance of funeral and interment;

(4) other administrative powers and duties of funeral and interment as provided in laws and regulations.

The civil department may entrust the institution of funeral and interment, which satisfies legal requirements, to exercise punitive power to the act violating the administrative laws and regulations on funeral and interment according to law.

Article 5 The administrative department of public security, industry and commerce, land plan, environmental protection, health, city management, transport, national and religious affairs and so on shall assist to perfect the administration of funeral and interment within their respective powers and duties.

Article 6 The whole society shall support the reform of funeral and interment, observe the administrative laws and regulations on funeral and interment, support and assist the work of funeral and interment unit and its employee.

Chapter ¢ò Administration of Funeral and Interment

Article 7 If citizen dies in this municipality, the corpse shall be cremated, except the person of the minority who may be inhumed as provided by the State. If the person of the minority exercise the reform of funeral voluntarily, others shall not interfere.

The remains of the dead, who is affirmed by the administrative department of national and religious affairs and the civil department to accord with the conditions of inhumation as provided in the preceding paragraph, shall be buried in the special cemetery park that is approved to be established by government.

Article 8 The corpse of the person, who dies in this municipality, shall be cremated and shall not be transported out of this municipality, except that laws and regulations provide otherwise.

Article 9 The heir of the dead shall be the undertaker of funeral.

If the dead has no heir, his supporter by legacy or the unit that he belongs to during his lifetime or the urban residents' (villagers' ) committee of his deathbed habitation is the undertaker of funeral.

If corpse is not claimed, the civil department, public security organization or hospital shall be in charge of funeral according to different circumstances. The fees shall be disbursed from finance.

Article 10 If the dead died at home, the undertaker of funeral shall report to the public security organization instantly, go through the formalities of death certificate and inform funeral home to transport corpse within 2 hours from knowing the death.

If the dead dies in hospital, the hospital shall issue Death Certificate and inform funeral home to transport corpse within 8 hours from the death. The donation of remains and the death involving medical accident shall be conducted according to relevant provisions.

If the dead dies at other place, the public security organization or the judicial ogan shall issue the death certificate and inform funeral home to transport corpse.

The corpse of person, who is involved in criminal case and dies abnormally, shall be accepted, preserved, examined and appraised gratuitously, and be handed over to funeral home for treatment after being collected evidence by the public security organization.

Article 11 Funeral home shall transport corpse within 4 hours from receiving information.

When transporting corpse, funeral home shall take necessary technical treatment to it, in order to prevent environmental pollution.

Article 12 Funeral home, hospital and other units having the business of reserving corpse shall establish the registration system of corpse and take effective measure to strengthen the management of corpse in order to prevent the corpse from being illegally transported out of this municipality.

Article 13 Any one, who goes through the formality of cremation, shall submit the following documents:

(1) The undertaker of funeral shall submit effective identity document and the death certificate issued by hospital or the public security organization of district or higher level and sign written opinion about the disposition of corpse when going through the formalities of cremation;

(2) Hospital, public security organization, judicial organ or civil department shall submit written opinion about the disposition of corpse when going through the formality of cremation.

Corpse cannot be cremated by funeral home until the preceding requirements are satisfied.

Article 14 The corpse that shall be cremated as provided in these regulations shall be cremated within 10 days from being transported to funeral home, except that the public security, judicial organ or hospital needs to examine or appraise it. If the undertaker of funeral shall go through the deferring formality if he requires to defer the cremation for special circumstances.

If the undertaker of funeral fails to go through the formalities of cremation within the provided time limit without proper reason, funeral home shall inform him to go through the formalities within a prescribed time limit in writing or by announcement. If the undertaker of funeral still fails to go through the formalities within 2 months from the service of information or the issue of announcement yet, funeral home may cremate corpse.

As to the corpse that is not claimed, funeral home shall issue announcement. If no one claims it within 2 months from the issue of announcement yet, funeral home may cremate it and submit relevant materials to the public security organization for record.

Article 15 The department of sanitary and antiepidemic, funeral home and other relevant departments shall take measures to the corpse of the person who died of infectious disease, in order to prevent infection and pollution.

The corpse of the person who dies of serious infectious disease and highly decomposed corpse, shall be dealt with in time according to relevant provisions of the State by funeral home.

The corpse provided in the preceding paragraph shall not be transported into or out of this municipality.

Article 16 When holding funeral, the undertaker of the funeral shall observe laws and regulations, and shall not impede public order, impair public security, pollute environment, influence the appearance of city, or hinder other people' normal work and life.

Chapter ¢ó Administration of Funeral and Interment Facility

Article 17 The establishment of funeral home, crematorium, cemetery, cinerary hall and other funeral and interment facilities shall accord with the construction plan of funeral and interment facility and other requirements provided in laws and regulations, and be conducted the approving or other formalities according to relevant provisions of the State. No unit or individual may arbitrary set up the funeral and interment facility without approval.

Article 18 Cremains may be preserved by the relatives of the dead, be buried in cemetery, or be deposited in cinerary hall.

It is advocated and encouraged to take the ways of sprinkling, deeply burying, planting tree or others, which don' t occupy land or occupy less land, to deal with the remains. The concrete implementing measures shall be enacted by the municipal people' s government.

Article 19 It is prohibited to bury corpse or bury cremains or skeleton encased in coffin in cemetery, except the special cemetery park that are allowed for inhumation as provided in laws and regulations.

The land area occupied by grave occupies shall be strictly limited. The land area of every grave that buries remains shall not exceed 4 square meters. The land area of every grave that buries cremains or skeleton shall not exceed one square meter.

Article 20 It is prohibited to build grave outside of cemetery.

Any existing grave, which doesn' t accord with the provisions of laws and regulations, shall be cleaned up, removed or demolished gradually by the civil department and the department of land plan according to the development plan of city.

Article 21 The operating unit of operational cemetery shall enjoy the land-use right of cemetery within the age limit provided in the assignment contract of land-use right.

The use term of the grave in public cemetery shall be 20 years.

The use term of the grave in the operational cemetery shall be agreed by the operating unit of cemetery and the buyer of grave within the land-use term, and shall not exceed 20 years at the longest.

Article 22 The operational cemetery and cinerary hall shall sell grave or place of depositing cremains according to the cremation certificate issued by funeral home, except that the grave is reserved for multi-burial for the dead' s spouse who is still alive.

It is prohibited to transfer grave or the place of depositing cremains.

Article 23 The buyer of grave and the hirer of place of depositing cremains shall pay administrative fee according to provisions. If he fails to pay it in continuous 2 years and doesn' t pay it yet after the operating unit issued the notice of a call, the operating unit may isue an announcement in newspaper. If he still fails to pay it within 3 months from the issue of announcement , the operating unit may deal with the grave or the place by itself.

Funeral home may deal with the cremains that is not claimed for more than one year by itself.

Article 24 Public cemetery shall not sell grave or collect operational fees.

Operating unit of operational cemetery shall retain the maintenance funds of cemetery from the sales money of grave.

Chapter ¢ô Administration of Funeral and Interment Service

Article 25 Funeral and interment service belongs to special industry, and shall be uniformly administered by the civil department.

Any one, who engages in funeral and interment service, production or sale of the equipments and appliances of funeral and interment shall go through the formalities of approval or others according to relevant provisions of the State.

Article 26 Funeral and interment service shall carry out the system of annual examination to serving quality according to relevant provisions of the State.

Article 27 The item and standard of collecting fees of funeral and interment service shall be promulgated after being examined and approved or determined by the municipal competent department of price or the civil department according to laws, regulations or relevant provisions of the State.

Article 28 It is prohibited to produce or sell the funeral and interment facilities not according with national technical norms.

It is prohibited to produce or sell feudal or superstitious funeral and interment appliances.

Article 29 The employee of the service institution of funeral and interment shall observe handling rules and professional ethics, provide standard and civilized service, and shall not make use of his positions to seek personal gains or extort money and goods.

The service institution of funeral and interment and its employee shall dissuade and prevent the act of impeding public order or using feudal and superstitious appliances.

Chapter ¢õ Legal Responsibilities

Article 30 Any undertaker of funeral, who violates the provisions of Article 7 of these Regulations to bury the corpse that shall be cremated in ground, shall be ordered to go through the formalities of cremation within a prescribed time limit by the civil department. If he refuses to go through the formalities within the prescribed time limit, the civil department shall cremate the corpse compulsively and fine the undertaker of funeral more than 5,000 yuan but less than 10,000 yuan. The fees needed for mandatory cremation shall be born by the undertaker of funeral.

Any unit or individual, who provides land for illegal inhumation, shall be confiscated illegal gains and be fined more than 5,000 yuan but less than 10,000 yuan by the civil department.

Article 31 Any person, who is directly liable for violating the provisions of Article 8 of these Regulations to arbitrarily transport the corpse of person dies in this municipality out of this city, shall be fined 5,000 yuan by the civil department.

Any one, who provides convenience to the illegal transport of corpse, shall be fined 3,000 yuan.

Article 32 If funeral home or its working staff violates the provisions of Article 13, 14 and 23 of these regulations to deal with the corpse or the cremains, the competent department or the unit that the doer belongs to shall give punishment to the doer or the person directly liable. If he causes losses to the party, he shall give compensation according to law.

Article 33 Any undertaker of funeral, who violates the provisions of Article 16 of these regulations, failing to listen to dissuasion and causing serious damage, shall be given administrative punishment by the civil department or other relevant departments. If his act constitutes a crime, he shall be investigated for criminal responsibilities according to law.

Article 34 Any one, who violates the provisions of Article 17 of these regulations to arbitrarily build funeral and interment facilities without approval, shall be ordered to revert it, be confiscated illegal gains, and may be fined more than one time but less than 3 times of illegal gains by civil department together with the department of land plan.

Article 35 Any one, who violates the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 20 of these regulations to build grave outside of cemetery, shall be ordered to clean it up within a prescribed time limit by relevant departments; If he refuses to do so, relevant departments shall clean it up compulsively. The needed fees shall be born by him.

Article 36 Any one, who violates the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 22 of these regulations to sell grave or place of depositing cremains, shall be ordered to stop the malfeasance, be confiscated illegal gains, and may be fined more than one time but less than 3 times of illegal gains by the civil department.

Any one, who violates the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 22 of these regulations to transfer the grave, shall be ordered to stop the malfeasance, be confiscated illegal gains, and may be fined more than one time but less than 3 times of illegal gains by the civil department.

Article 37 Any one, who violates the provisions of Article 25 of these regulations to undertake funeral and interment service without approval, shall be ordered to stop business, be confiscated illegal gains and may be fined more than one time but less than 3 times of illegal gains by the civil department together with the department of industry and commerce.

Article 38 Any employee of service institution, who violates the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 29 of these regulations to seek personal gains or extort money and goods, shall be ordered to make restitution or pay compensation by the civil department, and be given punishments according to the circumstances by the unit that they belong to or the superior competent department.

Article 39 Any working staff of the administrative department of funeral and interment, who abuses the power, plays irregularity for favoritism, solicits or receives bribe, shall be given administrative punishments by the unit that he belongs to or the superior competent department. If his act constitutes a crime, he shall be investigated for criminal responsibilities according to law.

Chapter ¢ö Supplementary Provisions

Article 40 These regulations shall be applicable to the activities of funeral and interment of the overseas Chinese, Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots and foreigners in this municipality, except that laws and regulations of the State provide otherwise.

Article 41 The People' s Government of Shenzhen Municipality may enact the implementing rules according to these regulations.

Article 42 These regulations shall go into effect as of March 1, 2000. The Provisions of Shenzhen on the Management of Funeral and Interment promulgated by the People' s Government of Shenzhen Municipality in January 19,1993 shall be abolished from the date when these regulations go into effect.