Interments (felo de se) Act 1882
| Act of Parliament | |
| Long title | An Act to amend the law relating to the interment of any person found felo de se. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 45 & 46 Vict. c. 19 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales and the Channel Islands. |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 3 July 1882 |
| Commencement | 3 July 1882 |
| Repealed | 3 August 1961 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes | Burial of Suicide Act 1823 |
| Repealed by | Suicide Act 1961, s 3(2) & Sch 2 |
| Relates to | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Interments (felo de se) Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. 19) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed a person whose death was felo de se (criminal suicide) to be buried in a churchyard at any hour, and with the usual religious rites. Previously, suicides could be buried only between 9pm and midnight, and without rites. Sir James Stephen said that the act was "so worded as to lead any ordinary reader to suppose that till it passed suicides were buried at a crossroads with a stake through their bodies". Burial by the wayside had, in fact, been banned by the Burial of Suicide Act 1823 (4 Geo. 3. c. 52).
It shall not be lawful for any coroner or other officer haying authority to hold inquests to issue any warrant or other process directing the interment of the remains of persons against whom a finding of felo de se shall be had in any public highway, or with any stake being driven through the body of such person, but such coroner or other officer shall give directions for the interment of the remains of such person felo de se in the churchyard or other burial ground of the parish or place in which the remains of such person might by the laws or custom of England be inteired if the verdict of felo de se had not been found against such person.
— Interments (felo de se) Act 1882, s. 2
The Suicide Act 1961 abolished felo de se and in consequence also repealed the 1882 act.