Human ashes will only be allowed to be scattered at sea or from aircraft under the finalised cremation law set to be brought before Parliament in the coming days.

The law, details of which were announced on Tuesday, will prohibit the scattering of ashes in swimming areas or public places, although an open space will be designated for the practice.

Ashes will also be allowed to be spread on private property, while sealed urns can be stored on private property, buried in graves or held in columbaria, public storage structures, usually in cemeteries.

Urns containing the ashes of significant individuals will also be permitted to be held in museums or similar public locations. Commercialisation of sealed urns, such as buying or selling, will be prohibited.

Malta has so far not permitted any form of human cremation, despite repeated calls for alternatives to traditional burial.

A new law to regulate the practice, piloted by Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, was announced late last year and published for consultation in February.

Ms Cutajar said on Tuesday the proposed regulations had already undergone changes since the close of public consultation on March 9 and could be altered further as it makes its way through Parliament.

The proposed law, she said, included standards for crematoria. 

It also allowed for deceased individuals who had already been buried to be exhumed and their remains cremated, as well as the cremation of body parts.

Mothers could be cremated together with their children if both died during childbirth, as could twins or triplets who were stillborn together.

Health minister Chris Fearne said the law would lay down clear conditions for operators to obtain a license from the Superintendence for Public Health, which obliged to inspect and ensure compliance with the regulations.

Operators will be required to keep a detailed register of the processes used and individuals cremated.

Malta is the only country in Europe with no law on cremation, leading several people every year to seek such a service abroad, according to the government has said. Expenses, including freight, can reach up to €5,500.

Ms Cutajar has said public research showed that a third of the population wanted an alternative to traditional burial.

Cremation, she has argued, has the least negative impact on the environment and gives relatives the opportunity to retain a memento of their loved ones, as well as costing much less than traditional burial.