Quidne mortui medico-legales docent? = Why the dead do not teach forensic scientists?

Nowadays the anatomic dissection is scientifically in decline. Nevertheless in some Countries this procedure is undergoing rebirth as a teaching tool for the School of Medicine. The main interest is moving from simple learning of human anatomy to deontology and ethic training. Through this experience, medical students and future doctors should develop a deep respect with cadavers and then with patients. The tight relation between cadavers and end-users should be more considered than in the past. Authors provide a legislative and comparative analysis of this topic with a conclusive synthesis of their experience in the Institute of Legal Medicine of Milan.