Commentary on Sections Fees Section 24: Fees in respect of medical reviewer functions
56.This section allows for a fee to be charged in two situations. One is a charge to cover the costs of the new system of scrutiny of medical certificates of cause of death including the associated statistical support provided by the Common Services Agency. This fee may be charged to the personal representatives of the deceased and will be payable out of the deceased’s estate.
57.The other fee is for the application for authorisation to cremate the body of a person who died outwith Scotland. The medical reviewer has to determine whether it is safe to do so in such cases (section 18).
58.The Scottish Ministers may make regulations about the charging of fees, the arrangements for collection and any circumstances in which no fee is payable. The maximum fee which can be charged under this section cannot exceed the reasonable costs of the review or, as the case may be, the reasonable costs of determining whether it is safe to cremate the body of a person who died outwith Scotland. No fee is to be charged in respect of the function of verifying foreign certificates under section 17.