Prohibition of death A legal prohibition on dying in a ce | Honest historian
Prohibition of death
A legal prohibition on dying in a certain place (with fines for the family of the deceased, etc.). In the past it was imposed for religious or political reasons, so as not to desecrate a sacred place. The Greeks had the sacred island of Delos forbidden to die since the 5th century BC. It is often claimed that in Great Britain it is allegedly forbidden to desecrate the Parliamentary Palace of Westminster with death, and that whoever accidentally dies there may be buried at the King's expense as a sign of purification. This urban legend, however, has no confirmation.
In modern times, a number of localities have passed no-death laws as a "gesture of desperation" because of overcrowded cemeteries in the city, in the hope that higher authorities will decide to allocate new plots for burials.
The town of Longyear (Svalbard Archipelago, Norway) has a law that prohibits dying in its territory. If someone falls ill with a serious illness or has a potentially fatal accident, the patient must immediately be air or sea transported to another part of Norway, where he dies. But even if the death occurs in the city, the deceased is still buried in the "Big Land". These forced measures are due to the fact that in permafrost conditions the bodies do not decompose at all after burial and attract the attention of predators such as polar bears.
