The Stormont Executive has published draft legislation designed to ease the plight of relatives of the so-called "disappeared" and other missing persons.
The "disappeared" were those individuals abducted, murdered and secretly buried by paramilitaries during The Troubles.
Finance Minister Peter Robinson said yesterday that the draft Presumption of Death Bill (Northern Ireland) could allow the High Court to declare that a missing person may be presumed dead and for the issuing of death certificates.
"When a person goes missing and is presumed dead, in addition to the emotional trauma the families left behind find themselves in a state of legal limbo. Can the family home be sold? Does the missing person's will have to followed? Can the death of the missing person be registered?
"The draft legislation published today will help the families of missing people answer some of these questions. The draft Bill allows family members and others to apply to the High Court for a declaration that the missing person may be presumed to be dead if he or she is thought to have died or has been missing for more than seven years and has not been heard from during that period.
"The court order will lead to the missing person's presumed death being registered and a death certificate issued to the families."
However, a relative of one of the "disappeared" said the proposal would do little to ease the suffering of his family.
Oliver McVeigh, whose brother Columba is among those whose bodies have still to be returned for burial, said the proposal was nothing more than a "gesture".
"A death certificate doesn't mean anything to me. It's of absolutely no relevance to me and my family," he said.
"I know my brother is dead, I don't need a death certificate to prove it. The only closure for us is to get the body and get him buried beside his mother and his father."
The Minister has appealed for responses from the public as well as professional and voluntary organisations during the forthcoming 12-week consultation period which ends on April 15th.