BRATISLAVA, May 20, (WEBNOVINY) – On Thursday evening, the Slovak Parliament rejected the proposal of a group of MPs from the SaS party who wanted to enact changes in the law on the undertaking business. In the vote whether the draft would be moved to the second reading, several legislators from KDH abstained and the proposal only received 68 votes in the 150-member Slovak Parliament.
Based on the legislative initiative of the Freedom and Solidarity party (SaS), it would have been possible in Slovakia to bury human remains immediately and not after 48 hours, as is the current legal requirement in the applicable laws. SaS argues that the currently valid law interferes with constitutional rights of members of the Jewish community to freedom of religion. Jewish custom requires a burial within 24 hours of death. As the liberals from the SaS point out, the 48-hour waiting period has no medical justification. Furthermore, the draft suggests the abolition of a 50-meter exclusion zone of a burial site and a 100-meter exclusion zone from the border of a crematorium. SaS argues that the current rules prohibit authorization of placing a building in these zones other than those that provide services related to funeral service. They reject the reasoning for the exclusion zones by health concerns.
SITA
