Study objective: To assess current practices and the issuance of death certificates by forensic medical institutes, particularly in cases of suicide, with a view to introducing an additional section on the death certificate. Methods: In 2016, Santé publique France and Inserm conducted a telephone survey of all French forensic medical institutes (IMLs). The questionnaire covered activities within the IMLs, data organization and recording procedures, as well as death certification practices. Results: Thirty IMLs participated in the survey. In cases of suspected suicide, one in six IMLs reported that autopsies were performed systematically or very frequently. A large number of IMLs had digitized their data and coded causes of death. The main barriers to death certification were: a lack of understanding of the relevance of this practice (46%), fear of duplicating death reports and distorting mortality statistics (27%), refusal to remove the forensic obstacle in place of the magistrate (15%), and a lack of awareness of the public health value of this information (11%). Conclusion: This study demonstrated the need to standardize the practices of medical-legal institutes to improve the quality of forensic data for use in public health. It highlighted the importance of promptly implementing the supplementary medical component, which could eventually incorporate specific data on suicides.