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Coroners Act 2006

Deaths to be reported and post-mortems - Release of bodies, and retention and return of body parts and bodily samples

53: Parts and samples whose retention is not permitted must generally be returned when body released

You could also call this:

"Body parts that can't be kept must be returned when the body is released"

Illustration for Coroners Act 2006

When a body is released, a pathologist must return any body parts or samples they are not allowed to keep. You can find out what body parts or samples can be kept in section 48. The pathologist must try to put the parts or samples back where they belong in the body before it is released. If it is not possible to put them back, the pathologist must find another way to return them to the body before it is released. If this is also not possible, the pathologist must get rid of the parts or samples as soon as they can after the body is released. This rule does not apply if section 54 says otherwise.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM377587.

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52: Requests for return of retained parts and samples, or

"Asking for body parts or samples to be returned after someone has died"

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54: Restrictions on return and disposal, or

"Rules for keeping or getting rid of body parts or samples after a coroner's investigation"

Part 2Deaths to be reported and post-mortems
Release of bodies, and retention and return of body parts and bodily samples

53Parts and samples whose retention is not permitted must generally be returned when body released

  1. A pathologist who is not permitted by section 48 to retain a body part or bodily sample must, to the extent that it has not been destroyed in the course of analysis conducted for the purposes of the post-mortem,—

  2. restore it, before the body is released, to the appropriate place in the body, if restoration of that kind is reasonably practicable; or
    1. ensure it is, before the body is released, in some other way reunited appropriately with the body, if reunion of that kind is reasonably practicable but restoration of that kind is not; or
      1. dispose of it as soon as is reasonably convenient after the release of the body, if neither restoration nor reunion of that kind is reasonably practicable.

        1. This section is subject to section 54.