DOCSLIB.ORG

Presumption of Death

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Presumption of Death House of Commons Justice Committee Presumption of Death Twelfth Report of Session 2010–12 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 7 February 2012 HC 1663 Published on 22 February 2012 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £14.50 Justice Committee The Justice Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Ministry of Justice and its associated public bodies (including the work of staff provided for the administrative work of courts and tribunals, but excluding consideration of individual cases and appointments, and excluding the work of the Scotland and Wales Offices and of the Advocate General for Scotland); and administration and expenditure of the Attorney General's Office, the Treasury Solicitor's Department, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office (but excluding individual cases and appointments and advice given within government by Law Officers). Current membership Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith (Liberal Democrat, Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Chair) Steve Brine (Conservative, Winchester) Mr Robert Buckland (Conservative, South Swindon) Jeremy Corbyn (Labour, Islington North) Nick de Bois (Conservative, Enfield North) Christopher Evans (Labour/Co-operative, Islwyn) Ben Gummer (Conservative, Ipswich) Rt Hon Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru, Dwyfor Meirionnydd) Seema Malhotra (Labour/Co-operative, Feltham and Heston) Yasmin Qureshi (Labour, Bolton South East) Elizabeth Truss (Conservative, South West Norfolk) Karl Turner (Labour, Kingston upon Hull East) The following Members were also members of the Committee during the Parliament: Mrs Helen Grant (Conservative, Maidstone and The Weald); Mrs Siân C James (Labour, Swansea East); Jessica Lee (Conservative, Erewash); Claire Perry (Conservative, Devizes); Mrs Linda Riordan (Labour/Co-operative, Halifax) and Anna Soubry (Conservative, Broxtowe). Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/justicecttee . A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume. The Reports of the Committee, the formal minutes relating to that report, oral evidence taken and some or all written evidence are available in a printed volume. Additional written evidence may be published on the internet only. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Tom Goldsmith (Clerk), Sarah Petit (Second Clark), Hannah Stewart (Committee Legal Specialist), John-Paul Flaherty (Inquiry Manager), Ana Ferreira (Senior Committee Assistant), Sonia Draper (Committee Assistant), Greta Piacquadio (Committee Support Assistant), Frances Haycock (Sandwich Student) and Nick Davies (Committee Media Officer). Contacts Correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Justice Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 8196 and the email address is [email protected] 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 The current law 6 3 Is there a problem with the law on presumption of death? 8 4 Practical problems arising from the current system 11 Accepting legal paperwork 11 Resolving immediate financial issues 12 Obtaining information about a missing person’s affairs 12 Costs 13 5 Solutions to the lack of clarity around presumption of death 15 Non-legislative solutions 15 Guidance for industry and institutions 15 Guidance for families 16 Guidance on section 15 of the Coroners Act 17 Legislative solutions 18 A Presumption of Death Act? 18 Legislating for guardianship 21 6 Conclusion 24 Conclusions and recommendations 25 Formal Minutes 27 Witnesses 28 List of printed written evidence 28 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 29 3 Summary When a person goes missing their family can suffer serious financial repercussions, as well as inevitable pain and distress. Having examined the law and processes we have found that such suffering is exacerbated by: a legislative patchwork of bewildering complexity; the inability to administer the financial situation of their missing relatives; a lack of information about the actions they are able to take; and ignorance of the correct procedures to be followed by police, lawyers, banks, insurers and others. The approach we recommend the Government adopt to tackle the problems experienced by families trying to cope with the loss of a relative is threefold. Firstly, we recommend the introduction of a presumption of death act to clarify the legal position. Such an act should be modelled on the legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In almost 34 years since the Scottish act came into force, only one person who has been the subject of an order under the statute has reappeared. We believe this shows the Scottish legislation provides for a robust and effective process. We believe that there is no good reason not to proceed with legislation for England and Wales, and the longer such legislation is delayed the longer families will suffer. Presumption of death orders, however, can only solve some of the problems families face. It will only be appropriate to declare a missing person dead several years after their disappearance. In that time, their financial affairs can be devastated beyond hope of recovery, mortgages or rent may be unpaid, leading to repossessions or the loss of a secure tenancy, bank accounts can be drained by years of direct debits that do not benefit the missing person and the value of many years of paying into an insurance premium may be lost. Equally, dependents are unable to access financial resources or the missing person’s financial information meaning they can do little to protect themselves. We therefore recommend that legislation be introduced to allow for a system of guardianship orders, similar to those in Australia. These will allow for the administration of the missing person’s property in his or her best interests if they have not returned after three months, as well as support for dependents. Finally, we call on the Government and industry to provide effective guidance for families in very difficult and distressing circumstances, as well as those who provide services for them. 5 1 Introduction 1. On 21 July 2011 we announced our inquiry into the law and processes relating to presumption of death. Concerns surrounding this issue were brought to the attention of some of our Members by their constituents, particularly about the cumbersome and Byzantine procedures which the relatives of missing people are required to negotiate. The UK Missing Persons Bureau, which collates data on those reported missing, told us that under 1% of the 200,000 people who are reported missing every year remain un-located after 12 months. In September 2011, the Bureau had around 5,500 outstanding missing persons and approximately 1,000 unidentified people, bodies and remains on its database. The number of people seeking to resolve issues concerning missing relatives at any one time is, therefore, relatively small, but those who are in that situation are inevitably already in distressing circumstances. We therefore decided to examine both the relevant law and procedures to establish whether there were as effective and efficient as possible. 2. Our terms of reference focused on four specific areas: • Does the current system work effectively? • Does the current system create difficulties for families, and if so, how can these be resolved? • What can we learn from the experiences of Scotland and Northern Ireland which have Presumption of Death Acts? • Is there a need for legislative or procedural change in England and Wales? If so, what form should these changes take? 2. We received 17 submissions from a wide range of witnesses and held two oral evidence sessions with witnesses listed at the end of this Report. We are grateful to all those who took the time to contribute to our inquiry. 6 2 The current law 3. When a person dies the executors of the will, anyone named in the will or, in the absence of a will, next of kin are able to obtain a grant of probate (or letters of administration if the deceased died without making a will) on production of the death certificate. Death certificates state that two doctors are satisfied that the deceased died from an identified cause. When a person goes missing, however, even if the circumstances of the disappearance strongly suggest he or she has died, the impossibility of a death certificate being issued leaves their affairs unresolved. 4. The law that relates to resolving the affairs of people who go missing is an extensive mixture of statutory and common law provisions; indeed, one witness described it as a “crazy paving of legislation, of statutory and non-statutory provisions.”1 The most well- known provision, that the court will assume a person to be dead when there has been no evidence of his or her continued existence for seven years, is a rebuttable common law presumption. The court will usually presume death if: there is no evidence that the missing person has been alive during the previous seven years; the people most likely to have heard from the missing person have not had any contact; and, during those seven years, inquiries have been made for the missing person, without success.2 If not satisfied on the facts of the case the court will reject the application. An application may be allowed before the person has been missing for seven years if the facts of the case allow, for example if inquiries were thorough and wide-ranging.3 A court order stating the missing person is presumed to have died will resolve the issue that is the point of the application, but not others.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 920.5 When Proof of Death Is Required
    FOM1 920 920.5 When Proof of Death Is Required 920.5.1 Survivor Benefits Proof of death (POD) of an employee or an employee annuitant is required in all claims for survivor benefits. POD of other individuals is also required in the following situations: A. When the death of any person who, if living, would be entitled to all or a portion of the survivor benefit is alleged, AND such death occurred after the death of the employee or employee annuitant; NOTE: POD of a widow(er) is required in spouse–to-widow(er) cases, when the widow(er) dies after the employee but in the same month as the EE and a LSDP is payable. B. When a designated beneficiary in an RLS case who, if living, would be entitled to an amount in excess of $100.00 is alleged to have died; C. When the spouse in a J&S election case dies before the employee annuitant; D. Any other case in which there is reasonable doubt as to the death of: 1. Any person who, if living, would have priority over the applicant; or 2. Any spouse whose death is alleged to have ended a prior marriage; or 3. Any beneficiary whose termination of entitlement would increase other benefits. 920.5.2 Acceptability of POD Used by SSA Any evidence acceptable to SSA as POD is acceptable to the Railroad Retirement Board without further development unless there is a conflict as explained in FOM-I- 920.20. Additional evidence of death is not required for the payment of an RLS when POD has been accepted by SSA and is contained in their files.
    [Show full text]
  • On Dorfman's Death and the Maiden
    Essay On Dorfman's Death and the Maiden David Luban* Gerardo Escobar, the human rights lawyer, is late returning from his meeting with the President, and his wife Paulina is edgy as she keeps dinner warm in their isolated coastal home. Sudden thunder, sheets of rain, and the electricity goes out, cutting off the radio news in midsentence. The summer storm is violent, but Paulina has a different kind of violence on her mind. "The time is the present," Ariel Dorfman tells us in the stage directions to Death and the Maiden, "and the place, a country that is probably Chile but could be any country that has given itself a democratic government just after a long period of dictatorship."' * Frederick Haas Professor of Law and Philosophy, Georgetown University Law Center. This Essay was originally prepared for a panel on transitional justice entitled "Justice, Amnesty, and Truth-Telling: Options for Societies in Transition," American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, convention (Atlanta, Dec. 1996). My thanks go to the participants in this sym- posium, to Arthur Evenchik and Temma Kaplan for comments on an earlier draft, to Ann Sheffield for help with Latin translations, to Gisela von Mlhlenbrock for conversations about transitional justice in Chile, and to the research librarians at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., for assistance in locating research materials. 1. ARIEL DORFMAN, DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (1991) ("Cast of Characters"). To avoid Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, Vol. 10, Iss. 1 [1998], Art. 3 116 Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities [Vol. 10: 115 Paulina knows that even in countries that are no longer dictator- ships, fascists sometimes visit the isolated homes of human rights lawyers on stormy nights.
    [Show full text]
  • Presumption of Death: What Happens When an Individual Vanishes from Society?
    G THE B IN EN V C R H E S A N 8 8 D 8 B 1 AR SINCE WWW. NYLJ.COM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 Expert Opinion Presumption of Death: What Happens When an Individual Vanishes From Society? By C. Raymond Radigan and dictions, a person was presumed to Jennifer F. Hillman be living for a period of 100 years from the time of their birth. Some ecently, there has been countries later modified this time new attention placed on period by statute. For example, the decades old disappear- one English statute exempted any By And person from penalty for bigamy if ance of Kathleen Durst who C. Raymond Jennifer F. disappeared in 1982. At the Radigan Hillman their spouse had been absent for Rtime of her disappearance, there a period of seven years. A similar was speculation and suspicion According to FBI statistics, English statute provided that par- surrounding her husband Robert 750,000 people are reported miss- ties to leases who were absent for Durst who was from a prominent ing each year in the United States. more than seven years would be New York family. No one has heard USA Today, “By The Numbers: deemed deceased. Today, most from Kathleen Durst in decades, yet Missing Person in the USA.” Some jurisdictions have shortened the she was still considered a missing of these disappearances are linked waiting period by statute and allow person until recently. Earlier this to mass fatalities or national disas- courts to dispense with the time year, the First Department issued ters, while others may be asso- period requirement all together if a decision finding the date of Kath- ciated with possible foul play.
    [Show full text]
  • Presumption of Death
    University of Chicago Law School Chicago Unbound Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 1925 Presumption of Death Edward W. Hinton Follow this and additional works at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Edward W. Hinton, Comment, "Presumption of Death," 19 Illinois Law Review 681 (1925). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Chicago Unbound. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Chicago Unbound. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMMENT ON RECENT CASES EVIDENCE-PRESUMPTION OF DEATH-WHEN REBUTTED.- [Massachusetts] The wife of the alleged deceased husband filed a petition for administration on his estate. The proof in support of the petition showed that the husband left his home and family in December, 1915, under circumstances strongly indicating an inten- tion on his part to abandon them. He had been infatuated with another woman, and both left the same day. He left a letter for his son stating that he had been miserable at home and could not live that way any longer, and that he hoped to have his son with him at some future time. Within a day or so after his departure he sent his wife the check for his automobile which had been left at a garage in New York. Neither his family nor friends heard from him after that. The petition for administration was filed in 1924, nearly nine years after the husband was last heard from. The probate court dismissed the petition on the ground that the death of the husband had not been proved.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Approach to Enforced Disappearances in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights Jurisprudence
    A COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE OPHELLA CLAUDE* Introduction The phenomenon of enforced disappearancesis a particularlyheinous human rights violation. Manfred Nowak For decades the practice of enforced disappearances has been the trademark of repressive and dictatorial regimes. The practice emerged in the early 1970's in various Latin American military dic- tatorships, but it is not confined to the Americas. The Organization of American States has been a pioneer in addressing the issue of en- forced disappearances. Correlatively, the first cases brought forth upon the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court) concerned enforced disappearances in Honduras. 2 It took the international community almost forty years3 to * Ophelia M.A. Claude, LL.M. International Legal Studies, American University Washington College of Law, 2009; LL.B./Double Maitrise, University of Essex and University of Nanterre, 2008. This article is based on a paper written for the Advanced Human Rights class at American University Washington College of Law. The author would like to thank Professor Robert Goldman for his useful in- sights and support as well as Sandra Vicente, lawyer for the Center for Justice and International Law, with whom she discussed various issues arising in this article. I Manfred Nowak, Monitoring Disappearances- The dificult path from cla- rifing past cases to effectively preventing future ones, 4 EUR. HUM. RTS. L. REV. 348 (1996). 2 See, e.g., Velasquez Rodriguez Case, 1989 Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 4 2, 4 (July 29, 1988); Godinez & Cruz Case, 1989 Inter-Am.
    [Show full text]
  • The True Presumption of Death in New York
    Fordham Law Review Volume 2 Issue 1 Article 1 1915 The True Presumption of Death in New York John T. Loughran Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation John T. Loughran, The True Presumption of Death in New York, 2 Fordham L. Rev. 1 (1915). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol2/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FORDHAM LAW REVIEW VOLUME II 1915116 Reprinted with the permission of the Fordham Law Review FORDHAM LAW REVIEW VOL. II. NOVEMBER, 1915. No. i. The True Presumption of Death in New York "It is a rule of presumption, that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, a person shall be taken to be dead, when he has been absent seven years and not heard from."' Recent New York cases seem fairly to put the inquiry, to what extent has this rule of the substantive law of persons been adopted in this state? 2 In Matter of Benjamin,3 the Surrogate refused to find the death of a person absent thirty-seven years and not heard from, and, upon an elaborate consideration of authorities, concluded that "The presumption of the continuation of human life and the presumption of death are not presumptions of law but of fact."4 The decree of the Surrogate was reversed.5 "This court," the Appellate Division wrote, "has so recently laid down rules as to the presumption of death arising from long- continued and unexplained absence that no further discussion of that question is now required.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 318. Allowances, Distribution, Partition
    3283 ALLOWANCES, DISTRIBUTION, PARTITION 318.03 CHAPTER 318. ALLOWANCES, DISTRIBUTION, PARTITION. 318.01 Distrihu tion of personalty. 318.10 Partition of residue, when neces­ 318.02 Rights of state, notice to attorney­ sary, juc1g-nlen t. general. 318.12 Notice at appointment of commis- 318.03 Escheats and unclaimed legacies and sioners. shares. 318.24 Advancements part of estate. 318.04 La nds distributed as personalty. 318.25 Advancenlen t, 11o,v applied. 318.06 Estates, assigning residue. 318.20 Equalization of shares; not to be re,- 318.061 Legacy 01' distributl \-e share of funded. minor, when guardian not needed; 318.27 Gifts, ,,,hen advancenlents; how" val­ other small legacies and shares. ued. 318.065 A bridged judgment; recording. 318.28 Advancement to ancestor to affect 318.07 Receipts from guardians. child. 318.08 Remedy of creditors of nonresident 318.29 Advancements, questions for court. heirs and legatees; service of cita­ 318.30 Partition. tion. 318.01 Distribution of personalty. (1) RESIDUE. The residue, if any, of the per­ sonal estate of any intestate and the residue of the personal estate of a testator, not (lisposerl of by his will aud not required for the purposcs mentioned in section 313.15, shall he a;stl'ibuted in the samc proportions, and to -the same persons, and for the same pur­ poses, as prescribed for the descent and disposition of real estate in chapter 237, except that when the deceased shall leave a widow or widower and lawful issue the widow 01' wicbv6r shall be entitled to receive the same share of such residue as a child of such de­ ceased, when there is only one child, and in all other cases one-third of such residue.
    [Show full text]
  • Economic and Social Council
    UNITED NATIONS E Economic and Social Distr. Council GENERAL E/CN.4/1998/43 12 January 1998 Original: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty­fourth session Item 8 (c) of the provisional agenda QUESTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED TO ANY FORM OF DETENTION OR IMPRISONMENT QUESTION OF ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances GE.98­10094 (E) E/CN.4/1998/43 page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction ....................... 1 ­ 5 5 I. ACTIVITIES OF THE WORKING GROUP ON ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES IN 1997 ....... 6 ­ 75 6 A. Meetings and missions of the Working Group . 6 ­ 12 6 B. Communications ............... 13 ­ 16 6 C. Methods of work .............. 17 7 D. Draft international convention on the prevention and punishment of enforced disappearances ............... 18 ­ 20 8 E. Former Yugoslavia ............. 21 ­ 22 8 F. Compensation, presumption of death and exhumation ................. 23 ­ 65 9 G. Implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance ............... 66 ­ 75 16 II. INFORMATION CONCERNING ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES REVIEWED BY THE WORKING GROUP, AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY 76 ­ 403 18 Afghanistan ................... 76 ­ 79 18 Algeria ..................... 80 ­ 87 18 Angola ..................... 88 ­ 91 20 Argentina .................... 92 ­ 101 21 Bangladesh ................... 102 ­ 104 22 Bolivia ..................... 105 ­ 107 22 Brazil ..................... 108 ­ 110 23 Burkina Faso .................. 111 ­ 113 23 Burundi ..................... 114 ­ 117 24 Cameroon .................... 118 ­ 120 24 Chad ...................... 121 ­ 123 25 Chile ...................... 124 ­ 129 25 China ...................... 130 ­ 134 26 Colombia .................... 135 ­ 147 27 Cyprus ..................... 148 ­ 151 30 Democratic Republic of the Congo ........ 152 ­ 155 31 Dominican Republic ..............
    [Show full text]
  • Social Security Administration § 404.721
    Social Security Administration § 404.721 for additional evidence. If this addi- riage record; a passport; an employ- tional evidence shows the same infor- ment record; a delayed birth certifi- mation, all the evidence considered to- cate, your child’s birth certificate; or gether may be convincing. When we an immigration or naturalization have convincing evidence of the facts record. that must be proven or it is clear that the evidence provided does not prove § 404.720 Evidence of a person’s death. the necessary facts, we will make a for- (a) When evidence of death is required. mal decision about your benefit rights. If you apply for benefits on the record of a deceased person, we will ask for EVIDENCE OF AGE, MARRIAGE, AND evidence of the date and place of his or DEATH her death. We may also ask for evi- dence of another person’s death if this § 404.715 When evidence of age is is needed to prove you are eligible for needed. benefits. (a) If you apply for benefits, we will (b) Preferred evidence of death. The ask for evidence of age which shows best evidence of a person’s death is— your date of birth unless you are apply- (1) A certified copy or extract from ing for— the public record of death, coroner’s re- (1) A lump-sum death payment; port of death, or verdict of a coroner’s (2) A wife’s benefit and you have the jury; or a certificate by the custodian insured person’s child in your care; of the public record of death; (3) A mother’s or father’s benefit; or (2) A statement of the funeral direc- (4) A disability benefit (or for a pe- tor, attending physician, intern of the riod of disability) and neither your eli- institution where death occurred; gibility nor benefit amount depends (3) A certified copy of, or extract upon your age.
    [Show full text]
  • Estates of Missing Persons in North Carolina Frederick B
    NORTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW Volume 44 | Number 2 Article 1 2-1-1966 Estates of Missing Persons in North Carolina Frederick B. McCall Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/nclr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Frederick B. McCall, Estates of Missing Persons in North Carolina, 44 N.C. L. Rev. 275 (1966). Available at: http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/nclr/vol44/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in North Carolina Law Review by an authorized administrator of Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ESTATES OF MISSING PERSONS IN NORTH CAROLINA* FREDERICK B. McCALLt A person is missing from his last known domicile or place of residence; his whereabouts are unknown, and he has not been heard from for a long period of time by his relatives or friends or other persons who naturally in due time would have heard from him. He is not known to be actually dead, yet during his unexplained absence it becomes necessary to preserve his property from depreciation or disintegration; his spouse and other dependents must be provided for; his taxes and debts must be paid; and if he never reappears to claim his property, some thought must be given to the distribution of it to those persons who ultimately might by law become entitled to it. And of extreme importance to the absentee is the preservation of his rights in his property against the day when he might possibly return to resume control over it.
    [Show full text]
  • Missing Migrants
    POLICY PAPER POLICY MISSING MIGRANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES THE ICRC’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO POLICY-MAKERS TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................4 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS .........................................................................6 THE ICRC’S ROLE AND EXPERTISE ON MISSING PERSONS AND THEIR FAMILIES ...............................................................................................8 I. PREVENTING MIGRANTS FROM GOING MISSING ............................................... 10 II. SEARCHING FOR AND IDENTIFYING MISSING MIGRANTS .................................. 14 III. ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF FAMILIES OF MISSING MIGRANTS .......................22 CONCLUSION ...........................................................................................................26 ANNEX – DATA PROTECTION ...................................................................................27 INTRODUCTION Every day around the world, an alarming number of migrants1 go missing, either in transit, or in destination countries. This policy paper outlines a set of key recommendations for policy-makers, which are based on the broad experience of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its work on behalf of missing persons and their families, including people who go missing in the context of migration. Migrants disappear in a variety of circumstances. For instance, they go missing when they are not able to establish contact with their
    [Show full text]
  • Consultation Paper on the Civil Law Aspects of Missing Persons
    CONSULTATION PAPER CONSULTATION The Law Reform Commission is an independent statutory body established by the Law Reform Commission Act 1975. The Commission’s principal role is to keep the law under review and to make proposals for reform, in particular by recommending the enactment of legislation to clarify, modernise and consolidate the law. This role is carried out primarily under a Programme of CONSULTATION PAPER Law Reform. The Commission’s Third Programme of Law Reform 2008-2014 was prepared and approved under the PERSONS OF MISSING ASPECTS CIVIL LAW 1975 Act following broad consultation and discussion. The CIVIL LAW ASPECTS Commission also works on specific matters referred to it by the Attorney General under the 1975 Act. The Commission OF MISSING PERSONS is also involved in making legislation more accessible through Statute Law Restatement, the Legislation Directory and the Classified List of Legislation in Ireland. Statute Law Restatement involves the administrative consolidation of all amendments to an Act into a single accessible text. The Legislation Directory is a searchable annotated guide to legislative changes. The Classified List of Legislation in Ireland comprises all Acts of the Oireachtas that are in force, organised under 36 major subject-matter headings. LRC CP 64 – 2011 €15 ADDRESS TELEPHONE FAX EMAIL WEBSITE (LRC CP 64 – 2011) 35-39 Shelbourne Road Dublin 4 Ireland +353 1 6377600 +353 1 6377601 [email protected] www.lawreform.ie The Law Reform Commission is a statutory body established by the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 116630 - LRC Civil Aspects of missing persons .indd 1 09/12/2011 12:45 www.lawreform.ie 116630 - LRC Civil Aspects of missing persons .indd 2 09/12/2011 12:45 CONSULTATION PAPER CIVIL LAW ASPECTS OF MISSING PERSONS (LRC CP 64 - 2011) © COPYRIGHT Law Reform Commission FIRST PUBLISHED December 2011 ISSN 1393-3140 LAW REFORM COMMISSION‘S ROLE The Law Reform Commission is an independent statutory body established by the Law Reform Commission Act 1975.
    [Show full text]