Births and Deaths Registration.
(b) in case of the death of any person who has been attended during his last illness by a registered medical practitioner, that practitioner shall forthwith sign and give to some person required by this Ordinance to give information concerning the death a certificate, in the form prescribed by this section, stating to the best of his knowledge and belief the cause of death, and including a statement as to whether any, and if so what, anaesthetic was administered during the said illness and, if so, how long before death it was administered, and such person shall, on giving information concerning the death, deliver that certificate to a registrar; and the cause of death as stated in that certificate shall be entered in the register;
(c) where an inquiry is held on the body of any deceased person, or where a magistrate has issued a burial order, a medical certificate of the cause of death need not be given;
(d) for the purpose of securing uniformity in the death returns, the cause of death certified by a registered medical practitioner, or by any medical officer in any branch of His Majesty's service, or by any magistrate shall, so far as possible, be described in strict accordance with the nomenclature of diseases of the Royal College of Physicians of London. If in any certificate the cause of death is not so described, it shall be lawful for a registrar to refuse to register the cause of death as thus certified, and to proceed in the manner provided by section 21 for cases in which that officer suspects that the reported cause of death is not the true cause.
[CAP. 174
21. In case of the death of any person who has not been attended during his last illness by any registered medical practitioner, or in any case in which a registrar suspects that the reported cause of death is not the true cause, it shall be the duty of the Registrar to institute or cause to be instituted immediate inquiries with a view to ascertaining the true cause of death.
Duty of registrar when deceased not attended by medical practitioner, or where in doubt as to cause of death.
321
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