A virtual grave: legal regulations of a new virtual social phenomenon

ABSTRACT The main goal of this paper is to answer the question whether virtual cemeteries are becoming a new element of the death and funeral ritual and because of that cause legal conflicts. The article is based on the literature review, social observation and analysis of the virtual cemeteries. Also, the formal dogmatic approach was used to analyze whether this phenomena can lead to legal conflicts. The analysis discover that virtual mourning practices help the users to cope with mourning and grief after the death of a loved one, they supplement the commemoration of the dead in the real world and assist with carrying out funeral rituals. It also discovered that the application of legal regulations concerning traditional graves to virtual ones does not always give satisfactory results, although it does show a direction in which the legislators should go if they want to regulate this issue.