[Today and tomorrow of forensic thanatology]

The essence of post-mortem examination and its special place among other disciplines of forensic medicine were presented. Attention was drawn to the role of better understanding of phenomena occurring during and directly after death in the development of forensic medicine. Progress in determination of the time of death and in estimation of the intravital character of injuries found on the corpse was discussed. The need for a wider application of results of bio- and thanatochemical analyses in determination of the cause of death and its mechanism was emphasized. Examples of progress in this domain were presented, based on a number of papers published in this field, especially in Poland. Finally, the author pointed to the necessity of upgrading training of medical doctors in the field of thanatology.