Section 2: Funeral operations

The purpose of funeral chambers is to receive, prior to burial or cremation, the bodies of deceased persons. The premises where the undertaking or association managing the funeral home offers the other services listed in Article L. 2223-19 must be separate from those housing the funeral home. A violation of the provisions of the previous paragraph is punishable by a fine of 75,000 euros.

Public or private health establishments that meet the conditions laid down by decree in the Conseil d’Etat must have a mortuary in which the bodies of people who have died there must be deposited. However, the mortuary chamber may incidentally receive, for a fee, the bodies of persons who have died outside these establishments if there is no funeral chamber nearby. The provisions of article L. 2223-38 do not apply…

Communities and public establishments for inter-communal cooperation have sole authority to create and manage crematoria and cinerary sites. Crematoria and adjoining cinerary sites may be managed directly or by delegated management. Cinerary sites included within the perimeter of a cemetery or not contiguous to a crematorium must be managed directly. When a cinerary site contiguous to a crematorium is the subject of a public service delegation, the land on which…

Regies, companies or associations managing a crematorium in accordance with article L. 2223-40 are subject to the authorisation provided for in article L. 2223-23. The provisions of articles L. 2223-26 and L. 2223-31 to L. 2223-34 are applicable to them.

Authorisation to close the coffin may only be issued on the basis of a certificate attesting to the death, drawn up by a doctor, whether practising or retired, by a student in the third cycle of medical studies in France or a practitioner with a foreign qualification from outside the European Union authorised to pursue a course of consolidation of skills in medicine, under conditions laid down by decree issued…

At the request of the person entitled to provide for the funeral and when the body of the deceased has been placed, in order to ensure its transport, in a coffin made of a material presenting an obstacle to cremation, an authorisation to transfer the body to a suitable coffin may be issued by the mayor. This authorisation may only be issued with a view to cremation of the body,…