### Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance 《公眾衞生及市政條例》

118. Prohibition of unauthorized burials and exhumations
(1) Any person who, without the permission in writing of the Authority, buries any human remains, or deposits any urn or other receptacle containing any human remains, or scatters the ashes of any human remains after cremation, otherwise than in a cemetery, shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Save in accordance with the provisions of this Part, any person who, without the permission in writing of the Authority, exhumes any human remains or any part of any human remains or any article interred therewith, or removes any human remains, or any part of any human remains, or any article from any urn or other receptacle, or removes or carries away any urn or other receptacle containing any human remains from any place, shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) No permission under subsection (1) or (2) shall be granted to any person other than the legal personal representative or next of kin of the person whose remains are to be buried, deposited, exhumed or removed, as the case may be, or the duly authorized agent of such legal personal representative or next of kin, or failing any such legal personal representative or next of kin or any such agent thereof, a person who, in the opinion of the Authority, has a proper interest in the disposal of the human remains in respect of which such permission is granted:
Provided that the Authority may permit the removal of any human remains from one part of a private cemetery to another part of such private cemetery at the request of the management of such cemetery.
(4) Subject to subsection (4A), any human remains buried, or any urn or other receptacle containing any human remains deposited, otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) or of the provisions of section 119, outside a cemetery may be removed by the Authority and buried or deposited inside a cemetery or otherwise disposed of in such decent manner as the Authority may think fit: (Amended L.N. 18 of 1983; 12 of 1994 s. 7)
Provided that the consent of the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs shall be obtained before such remains are, or such urn or other receptacle is, removed. (Replaced L.N. 18 of 1983. Amended L.N. 262 of 1989; L.N. 144 of 2022)
(4A) The consent of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission shall be obtained before any remains are buried, or any urn or other receptacle is deposited, pursuant to subsection (4) inside a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. (Added 12 of 1994 s. 7)
(5) (Repealed 49 of 1994 s. 30)

### Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance 《公眾衞生及市政條例》

119. Power of Chief Executive in Council to direct removal and disposal of human remains
(1)  Notwithstanding anything contained in the other provisions of this Part but subject to subsection (2), the Chief Executive in Council may by order direct the removal of any human remains from any grave, urn or other receptacle or of any urn or other receptacle containing any human remains, whether situated within or without a cemetery, and may direct the disposal thereof in such decent manner as he may think fit: (Amended 12 of 1994 s. 8)
Provided that no such order shall be made until 1 month’s notice of intention to make such order has been published in the Gazette. 
(2) No order shall be made under subsection (1) in relation to any Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery—
(a) unless the removal or disposal referred to in that subsection is, in the opinion of the Chief Executive in Council, necessary in the public interest; and
(b) until 6 months’ notice of intention to make such order has been given in writing to The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. (Added 12 of 1994 s. 8)
(Amended 59 of 2000 s. 3)

119A. Power of Authority to direct removal and disposal of human remains
The Authority may by order direct the removal, from any grave situated within a public cemetery, of any human remains or any urn or other receptacle containing any human remains, which have been interred therein for a period of not less than 6 years, and may direct the disposal thereof in such decent manner as he may think fit: 
Provided that no such order shall be made until 1 month’s notice of intention to make such order has been published in the Gazette. (Added 9 of 1976 s. 11)

120. Removal of coffins, etc.
When any human remains are moved under the provisions of this Part, it shall be lawful to move also any coffin, urn or other receptacle in which such human remains are contained and any monument or enclosure over or surrounding the same.

### Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance 《公眾衞生及市政條例》

121. Disposal of exhumed bodies
(1) Where any body, or part of any body, has been exhumed under section 7 of the Coroners Ordinance (Cap. 504), the Authority shall provide for the reburial or other disposal of such body in such manner as it may think fit. (Amended 12 of 1994 s. 9; 27 of 1997 s. 64)
(2) The consent of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission shall be obtained before any body, or any part of any body, is reburied or otherwise disposed of under subsection (1) inside a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. (Added 12 of 1994 s. 9)
(Replaced 57 of 1967 Schedule)

122. Defrayal of expenses of reburial, etc.
Whenever, pursuant to any powers conferred by this Part, the Chief Executive in Council, or the Authority, or a magistrate, has caused any human remains to be exhumed or removed, the expenses of exhumation or removal, and of reburial or disposal, shall be defrayed out of the general revenue.
(Replaced 9 of 1976 s. 12. Amended 10 of 1986 s. 16; 78 of 1999 s. 7; 59 of 2000 s. 3)

123. Regulations in relation to mortuaries
(1) The Authority may make regulations in relation to mortuaries prescribing or providing for—
(a) registration or licensing and inspection and control (including prohibition) of mortuaries; 
(b) the reception, treatment and custody of human remains; 
(c) the maintenance, inspection and custody of registers of human remains received into mortuaries; 
(d) the regulation and control of the transportation of human remains to or from any mortuary or to or from any other place.  (Amended 49 of 1994 s. 32)
(e) (Repealed 49 of 1994 s. 32) (2) Regulations made under subsection (1) may be of general application or limited to any class or type of mortuary or to any place, district or area.

123A. Public funeral halls
The Authority may, by order published in the Gazette, designate any mortuary operated by the Authority as a public funeral hall.
(Added 3 of 1978 s. 2)

123B. Management of public funeral halls
The management and control of every public funeral hall shall be vested in the Authority. 
(Added 3 of 1978 s. 2)