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Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Administration of Funeral and Interment
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| (Adopted at the 38th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th Shanghai Municipal People' s Congress on August 20, 1997) Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 In order to standardize the administration of funeral and interment activities, deepen the reforms of funeral and interment and promote the building of socialist spiritual civilization, these Regulations are formulated in accordance with the State Council' s Article 2 These Regulations shall apply to funeral and interment activities and their administration within the administrative area of this Municipality. Where the relevant regulations of the State and this Municipality provide otherwise on the funeral and interment activities and their administration for revolutionary martyrs, ethnic minority people, inhabitants of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, compatriots from Macao and Taiwan, overseas Chinese and foreigners, such provisions shall apply. Article 3 The principles for funeral and interment and their administration in this Municipality are: practicing cremation, economizing on land for funeral and interment, protecting the environment, respecting the virtues of the Chinese nation, abolishing undesirable funeral and interment customs, and advocating civilized and frugal funeral arrangements. Article 4 The Shanghai Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau) is the administrative department of funeral and interment activities in this Municipality, being responsible for the implementation of these Regulations, and its subordinate-the Administrative Office for Funeral and Interment (hereinafter referred to as the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment) shall take charge of the routine administration of funeral and interment activities. District (county) civil affairs bureaus shall, in accordance with their respective functions, take charge of the administration of funeral and interment activities within their jurisdiction. The administrative departments of public security, industry and commerce, public health, planning, gardens and parks, housing and land, environmental sanitation, environmental protection, as well as agriculture and communications at all levels shall, in accordance with their respective functions, cooperate with the civil affairs departments jointly to do a good job in the administration of funeral and interment activities. Article 5 The departments of culture, press, publication, broadcast, movie, television, etc. shall, in coordination with the civil affairs departments, adopt various forms to do a good job in propaganda and education on funeral and interment reforms and transformation of social traditions. Government organs, social organizations, enterprises, institutions, neighborhood (village) committees as well as other organizations carry out propaganda and education in their own units or districts on transforming social traditions in funeral and interment activities. Chapter II Funeral and Interment Service Units Article 6 Funeral and interment service units shall be established in accordance with the planning of this Municipality for funeral and interment and the principles of rationality, necessity and convenience for people. Construction of funeral parlors (including crematoriums, similarly hereinafter), cemeteries and cinerary halls shall be incorporated into the urban and rural construction planning. To build a funeral parlor, the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau shall submit an application to the Municipal People' s Government for approval. To build a cemetery, an application shall be submitted to the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau for approval. To build a cinerary hall or funeral and interment service agency, or for a funeral parlor, cemetery or cinerary hall to set up a funeral and interment service office outside of its service locality, an application shall be submitted to the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment for approval. Construction of funeral parlor, cemeteries or cinerary halls with foreign capital shall follow relevant regulations of the State. Article 7 Funeral and interment service units set up with approval shall, in accordance with relevant regulations, go through relevant formalities of examination, approval and registration with other administrative departments. In case collectively owned land is to be used, the formalities for requisition of land shall be performed. Article 8 Before starting business, funeral parlors, cemeteries, cinerary halls and funeral and interment service agencies shall submit a written application to the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment, which shall make a decision within 30 days upon receiving the application. To those who meet the following conditions, a funeral and interment service certificate shall be issued: 1. Having obtained a business license from the administrative departments of industry and commerce; 2. Having up-to-standard space and necessary facilities; 3. Main responsible having obtained, from the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment, its certificates personnel taking up posts. Article 9 The funeral and interment service certificates shall be examined once every year. Those whose funeral and interment service certificates are not examined or fail to pass the examination shall not continue funeral and interment service activities. Article 10 In case funeral parlors, cemeteries, cinerary halls or their agencies want to change names, legal representatives, business locality, business scope or terminate business, they shall submit applications to the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment, and, upon approval, go to the relevant administrative departments to complete the formalities of alteration or cancellation. Article 11 In case funeral parlors, cemeteries, or cinerary halls want to expand land use areas, they shall apply to the relevant administrative departments for approval in accordance with the examination and approval procedures for the establishment of such businesses. Article 12 Funeral and interment service units shall strengthen the administration of service equipment and facilities, keep their service localities, equipment and facilities tidy and intact, and prevent the environment from being polluted. Funeral and interment service personnel shall follow the rules of operation, observe professional ethics, and provide standardized civilized service. They shall not take advantage of their work to extort money or things. Funeral and interment units and their personnel shall dissuade or stop people from disturbing public order in funeral and interment service localities or scattering or using feudal superstitious articles for funeral and interment. Article 13 Items and rates of charge for funeral and interment services shall be checked and approved by the administrative department of price control and made known to the public. No charges shall be made in excess of the items and rates of charge. Charges collected in violation of regulations shall be dealt with by the administrative department of price control in accordance with the law. Administration fees charged by the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment shall only be used for the administration of funeral and interment activities, and shall not be diverted to other purposes. Chapter III Funeral and Interment Activities Article 14 In case the dead has relative(s), his/her relative(s) shall be the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements; in case the dead has no relatives, the unit he/she belonged to before death or the committee of the neighborhood (village) where he/she lived before death shall be the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements. Article 15 The remains of those who die in this Municipality shall be cremated in this same Municipality. Transportation of the remains of the dead out of this Municipality in exceptional cases shall be done with approval from the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment. Article 16 The undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements shall go, within 24 hours upon learning of the death of the deceased, to the public security department to obtain a death certificate and notify the funeral parlor to transport the remains of the dead. In case of death involving malpractice in medical treatment, relevant regulations shall be followed. In the case of a nameless corpse, an unclaimed corpse or a corpse involved in criminal cases, the corpse shall be transported by the funeral parlor at the notice of the public security department or the judicial department. Donated remains shall be disposed of in accordance with relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality. Article 17 Funeral parlors shall transport the remains within 12 hours upon receiving the notice. They shall give necessary technical treatment to the remains so as to ensure hygiene and prevent environmental pollution. Funeral parlors shall be responsible for the transportation of the remains, and the units and individuals concerned shall provide the necessary convenience in transporting the remains. Article 18 Units or individuals other than funeral parlors shall not engage in funeral and interment services such as transportation, preservation, beautification of, or changing clothes for, the dead. Article 19 Undertakers in charge of funeral arrangements shall make arrangements with funeral parlors for the cremation of the remains by producing the death certificate issued by the public security department. Funeral parlors shall cremate the remains on the evidence of the death certificate issued by the public security departments. Upon cremation of the remains, funeral parlors shall issue to the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements a certificate of cremation. Article 20 The remains carried to funeral parlors shall be cremated within 15 days. In special cases where a delay in needed is the cremation of the remains, the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements shall submit an application for approval to the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment or to the district (county) civil affairs bureau according to the relationship of subordination of the funeral parlor. In case the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements does not arrange for the cremation within 15 days upon the arrival of the remains nor makes any explanations, the funeral parlor shall notify the undertaker in written form to make arrangements within a time limit. If the undertaker fails to do so within the specified period, the funeral parlor may, after getting approval from the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment or to from the district (county) civil affairs bureau according to the relationship of subordination of the funeral parlor, and after reporting to the relevant district (county) public security bureau for the record, cremate the remains and give the undertaker notice to get back the ashes of the dead. The undertaker shall be liable for the expenses of the storage and cremation of the remains, etc. In case of the remains of persons who died of infectious diseases, the funeral parlor shall take precautions against the infection. Funeral parlors shall make sure badly rotten remains be cremated immediately. Article 21 While having funeral activities, the undertaker shall not jeopardize public order or public hygiene, nor shall he endanger public security or infringe the legitimate rights and interests of others. Chapter IV Disposal of Ashes of the Dead Article 22 Disposal of ashes of the dead without keeping ashes by any of such modes as scattering, deep burial, and tree-planting burial. shall be advocated and encouraged. No memorial markers shall be erected at the locality of interment if any of such modes as scattering, deep burial and tree-planting burial is adopted for disposal of ashes of the dead. Relevant departments and units shall support the disposal mode of not keeping ashes of the dead. Concrete measures for implementing the disposal of the ashes of the dead by scattering, deep burial, tree-planting burial, etc. shall be formulated by the Municipal People' s Government. Article 23 Cemeteries shall sell pits for burial on the strength of the certificate of cremation. They shall not sell burial pits for living persons, with the exception of joint burial pits for the living spouses of the dead or pits for burial bought by childless old people or other people in exceptional circumstances. Purchasers of pits for burial and shelf spaces for cinerary caskets shall not transfer them to others. Pyramid sale of pits for burial and shelf space for cinerary caskets is prohibited. Article 24 When selling pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets, cemeteries or cinerary halls shall make a contract with the purchaser. The name of the user of the pit for burial or the shelf space for cinerary casket shall not be changed. Purchasers of pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets shall pay maintenance fees, which shall be used solely for the day-to-day repair and maintenance of the pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets, and shall not be diverted to other purposes. Article 25 The bones or remains of the dead shall not be buried in the pits for burial. No tombs or tomb stones shall be erected in places other than cemeteries. Chapter V Administration of Mortuary Equipment and Special Articles Article 26 Units or private businesses to engage in the manufacture or sale of the mortuary equipment such as cremators, hearses and corpse refrigerators, and special articles such as corpse sacks, cinerary caskets, and tomb stonework shall, before starting business, submit a written application to the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment, which shall make a decision within 30 days upon receiving the application and issue a document of approval to those approved and send a written reply to those not approved. Units or private businesses to engage in the manufacture or sale of clothes for burial or floral wreaths shall, before starting business, submit a written application to the civil affairs bureau of the district (county) in which they are located, which shall make a decision within 30 days upon receiving the application and issue a document of approval to those approved and send a written reply to those not approved. Those who have obtained the document of approval shall, in accordance with relevant regulations of the State, go to the administrative departments of industry and commerce to complete the formalities of registration. Article 27 Mortuary equipment including cremators, hearses and corpse refrigerators must meet the technical standards set by the State. Manufacture or sale of mortuary equipment that does meet the technical standards set by the State is prohibited. Article 28 Units and private businesses engaged in the manufacture or sale of mortuary special articles for funeral and interment such as corpse sacks, cinerary caskets, tomb stonework, clothes for burial and floral wreaths shall not carry out such operation activities in localities other than those approved for such type of business. Article 29 Manufacture or sale of feudal superstitious articles for funeral and interment is prohibited. Chapter VI Legal Liability Article 30 Units, private businesses or individuals who violate these Regulations shall be penalized in accordance with the following provisions: 1. Those who establish service units for funeral and interment without approval, funeral parlors, cemeteries or cinerary halls who take up more land areas for use than approved, or those who engage in the manufacture or sale of feudal superstitious articles for funeral and interment shall be penalized in accordance with the State Council' s 2. Those who engage in funeral and interment service activities without obtaining a service certificate or whose service certificate has not been examined or failed to pass the examination or those who engage in the manufacture or sale of funeral and interment equipment or special articles for funeral and interment without obtaining a document of approval shall be ordered by the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment to stop production or operation and their unlawful gains shall be confiscated. In addition, a fine of from 2,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan may be imposed in light cases, and a fine of from 10,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan may be imposed in serious cases; 3. Those who transport the remains of the dead out of this Municipality without approval shall be subjected to a fine of from 200 yuan to 1,000 yuan by the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment or by the district (county) civil affairs bureau; 4. Those who sell pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets in violation of the regulations shall be ordered to stop their illegal activities by the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment or by the district (county) civil administration bureau and their unlawful gains shall be confiscated. In addition, a fine of one to three times the amount of their unlawful gains may be imposed; 5. Those who jeopardize public order or public security or infringe the legitimate rights and interests of others in funeral and interment activities to such an extent as to constitute a violation of public security administration shall be subjected to security administration punishment by the public security departments in accordance with the law. If their acts constitute a crime, their criminal responsibility shall be investigated into. Article 31 The municipal, district and county civil affairs bureaus and the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment shall exercise administration in accordance with the law and enforce the law impartially. They shall pay damages to the party concerned if it suffers direct economic losses due to their illegitimate exercise of administrative powers. Personnel of the municipal, district and county civil affairs bureaus and the Municipal Office for Funeral and Interment who neglect their duty, abuse their power, commit fraudulent acts for personal ends, or extort or accept bribes shall be given disciplinary sanction by the unit they belong to or by their superior responsible departments. In case their acts constitute a crime, their criminal responsibility shall be investigated into. Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions Article 32 The Municipal Civil Administration Bureau shall be responsible for the interpretation of these Regulations in their practical applications. Article 33 These Regulations shall become effective on January 1, 1998. |
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