This document discusses death registration procedures in five different countries and approaches taken after the MH17 disaster. It provides an overview of how natural deaths, violent or suspicious deaths, and cases without a body are handled in Italy, Scotland, Bosnia, the Netherlands, and Belgium. For MH17, where the plane was shot down with no survivors over a war zone, the Netherlands required a court order to declare all Dutch victims dead since no local authorities issued death certificates. Belgium's consulate instead directly issued death certificates due to the certainty of no survivors from the event outside the EU.

1. DEATH REGISTRATION

2. Hello!
I AM CHRISTOPH
civil registrars office Leuven (Belgium)
EVS Fachbeirat
@_Cph
◦ christoph.cuypers@leuven.be

3. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DISASTER STRIKES ?

4. OVERVIEW
Of the law
governing death
registration
CONCEPT OF THE WORKSHOP
SPECIFIC CASE
The MH17 disaster
Different
approaches

5. Overview
5 countries
1

6. 5 Countries
Italy Scotland Bosnia
The
Netherlands
Belgium
Natural
death
Notification
or
declaration
Medical
document*
Medical
document
Declaration
by relative
and medical
document
Medical
document
Violent,
suspicious,
unknown
cause
Notice
from
judicial
auth.
Medical
document,
reported to
the judicial
auth.
Medical
document
Medical
document
Medical
document
or report
police
officer
No body or
not-
identifiable
Court
order
Court
order
Court
order
Court order
Court
order

7. MH17
Two different approaches

8. THE FACTS
Shot down
No survivors
Identities victims known
Disaster site in war zone

9. APPROACH THE NETHERLANDS
Prosecutor of The Hague:
◦ Death occured outside NL
◦ No death certificate was made
by local autorities
Collective demand for court order
for all Dutch victims and
inhabitants

10. Approach Belgium
Consulate-General in Kiev:
◦ Event happened outside EU
◦ No death certificate was made by
local autorities
◦ Certainty of death – no survivors
Consulate-General made death
certificates

11. Thanks!
ANY QUESTIONS?
You can find me at
@_Cph
christoph.cuypers@leuven.be