§ 22. Mr. C. BATHURSTasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the recent speech of Sir Charles Cameron, M.D., formerly M.P. for the College Division of Glasgow, when presiding at the annual meeting of the Cremation Society, in which he protested against the scandalously lax requirements of the burial law, which afforded every facility for the concealment of crime and conduced to the compilation of worthless statistics, and alleged that death certificates given by medical practitioners were filled up in a most perfunctory manner, too often on hearsay and without personal knowledge, and that many thousands of deaths were each year registered which were not certified by any medical practitioner; whether, in the opinion of his advisers, such allegations are well-founded; and, if so, whether it is proposed to introduce legislation dealing with this matter?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Herbert Samuel)My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. I have not seen a report of the speech referred to. Under a recent Regulation issued by the Registrar-General uncertified deaths are required to be reported to the coroner. With respect to the last part of the question, the Registrar-General is considering the question of what amendments are desirable in the law relating to the registration of births, deaths and marriages, but I am not at present in a position to make any statement as to legislation on the subject.
§ Mr. C. BATHURSTAm I to understand from that answer that the right hon. Gentleman recognises the fact that these death certificates are at the present time given in a far from precise manner by medical practitioners?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELI should not be prepared to make any sweeping condemnation of the manner in which medical practitioners perform the duties cast upon them, but I have no doubt that there are defects in a considerable number of cases.