The UMJ was created to meet the needs of judicial authorities (magistrates and criminal investigators) . It provides elements of a medical nature necessary for the conduct of procedures.

Its missions are:

• to ensure the examinations of the victims (carry out the medical findings, establishment of the required certificates) and the necessary medico-legal samples, by developing a reception, quality care and, if necessary, referral to other professionals who can take relay,
• promote support for victims by offering them psychological support and informing them of their rights,
• to ensure the examinations for persons placed in police custody (medical findings, assessment of the necessary care) and the necessary forensic samples,
• to ensure the storage of files and samples in the best possible security conditions.

The organization of the UMJ allows:

• to ensure consultations for the examination of the victims within the framework of scheduled consultations and this within a period of less than 72 hours,

to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to requests for examinations of persons in custody (GAV) and emergency victims (sexual assaults, victims under chemical submission and in certain cases for the purposes of criminal proceedings) .

Medical practice and the relationship between caregivers, patients and their relatives are today increasingly impacted by major debates around questions of bioethics and medical ethics (patients' rights, management of suffering, reception disability, parental project, end-of-life decision, organ donation, participation in biomedical research, predictive medicine, etc.) ; these debates often revolve around the rule of law and legal standards (law of 4 March on patients' rights, so-called bioethics laws, law on the end of life, law on termination of pregnancy, law on research …)

It is important that the public, users of the health system, as well as professionals in these fields, be able to benefit from advice, opinions or expertise in these fields. It is this service which is accessible to all, in partnership with the Espace Régional d'Éthique de Normandie .

It can be approached by all in case of need for documentation, insights or advice. Training programs can also be offered around these subjects, as well as conferences or public debates.

The EREN aims to encourage and coordinate initiatives in terms of ethics in the fields of life sciences and health in Normandy.
The regional space for ethical reflection is the fruit of personal and institutional commitments, and all persons, establishments and associations concerned with care and health in the region are invited to contribute to its creation and to participate in its development, users as healthcare and medico-social support professionals, medical and paramedical professions, teachers of medical disciplines, law, human sciences, researchers, representatives of associations, etc.

Thanatological forensic medicine covers, at the request of the judicial authorities, external examinations of corpses, forensic autopsies, post-mortem samples, post-mortem X-rays, examinations of bones, which are carried out at the CHU, but also of bodies (examinations of corpses in situation on the places of their discovery) .

For the removal of bodies, the medical examiners of the CHU can be called upon for suspicious deaths in the Caen agglomeration and for criminal deaths in the Normandy region.

The mortuary room is a unit of the hospital where people who have died in the establishment or those who have to be taken care of by the forensic institute are received; this place is also intended for the families and loved ones of the deceased, so that they can have the time necessary for the organization of the funeral.

The mortuary is the responsibility of the CHU and not the mission of the external funeral services. It is part of the public service.

It includes an area for relatives and a technical area reserved for professionals.

The conditions for depositing the bodies in the mortuary are strictly supervised and meet essential ethical principles for the respect of the deceased. The bodies of deceased persons can remain there until they are placed in coffins; this must be carried out according to legal deadlines (The body of the deceased cannot remain more than 6 days after the death. The maximum tolerated deadline is 10 days of deposit for the bodies not claimed by their family, deadline beyond which the hospital has the obligation to proceed with the burial of the body) .

The organization within the mortuary room allows meditation, farewell, respecting the rites and convictions of each; and in compliance with the regulations in force.

The mission of the professionals who work in this sector is to provide information on the procedures, to support and to make this often dreaded moment less painful.