Interior Ministry drafts new rules on fees at municipal cemeteries: municipalities will set the rates themselves

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) has sent the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers a draft amendment meant to regulate unambiguously the collection of fees for the use of municipal cemeteries. The current rules date back to 1959: they do not match today's realities and give rise to court disputes.

A provision will be added to the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead allowing fees to be charged for the use of cemeteries and the public-use facilities and installations located on them; the amount and method of calculation will be determined under the 1996 Act on Municipal Economy, meaning the rates will be set by municipal councils, as for other public services.

Administrative courts have increasingly held that the current law permits fees only for burial and for reserving a grave for a further 20 years; for example, in 2020 the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Poznań limited municipalities' right to set other charges. The amendment is meant to end the disputes, including those over the fee for opening the cemetery gate or putting up a gravestone.