Revamp for Burke and Hare law

The new laws would affect medical students

Laws which can be traced back to the days of Burke and Hare are to be modernised, it has been announced.

The Scottish Executive proposals to amend the Anatomy Act have gone out to consultation.

Surgeons said a change in the law covering the use of bodies offered for anatomical research was "long overdue".

The first such act was passed in 1832 following the scandal of murderers Burke and Hare, who sold their victims' bodies to Edinburgh's anatomy students.

Under the current laws - which date from 1984 - human cadavers can be dissected for anatomical examination.

However, specific operative techniques must be practised on restructured animal tissue, synthetic tissue and virtual reality simulation.

The time is right for us to update this legislation and allow the training of health professionals to be brought into the 21st century Malcolm Chisholm Health Minister

Proposals to relax these restrictions were announced by Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm.

The consultation will consider whether the definition of anatomical examination should be expanded to include training in surgical procedures.

It is also proposed to improve regulation and to modernise the framework for donating bodies for examination.

Mr Chisholm said: "The time is right for us to update this legislation and allow the training of health professionals to be brought into the 21st century.

"We will also ensure that there continues to be a proper framework for the donation of bodies for anatomical examination.

"It is of utmost importance that if someone wants to leave their body to medicine the procedures are right and no-one is in any doubt about the person's wishes."

Step forward

The proposals were welcomed by Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri, a director of the surgical skills unit at Dundee University, and Professor Sir John Temple, former president of the Royal College of Surgeons.

In a statement they said: "This is a very important step forward.

"Surgeons need to learn basic, new or more advanced techniques in a safe environment before such procedures are employed in the clinical setting.

Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri welcomed the move

"This initiative will improve greatly the training opportunities in many surgical fields. It is long overdue."

The first Anatomy Act was passed at Westminster following the case of William Burke and William Hare.

They carried out more than a dozen murders and supplied the corpses to the anatomy offices of Professor Robert Knox.

The pair were widely thought to have been grave robbers before they progressed to murder, but Burke always denied robbing graves.

Hare escaped prison after giving evidence against Burke, who was executed after being found guilty of murder.

The first Anatomy Act sought to undo the illegal market in corpses by legalising the use of unclaimed bodies.