(Hammersmith) (Lab):...In
the case of Adath Yisroel Burial Society and Ita Cymerman, the
senior coroner for inner north London had a policy that deceased
persons would not be prioritised for burial on religious grounds,
despite some religions, such as Orthodox Judaism, requiring
burial within 24 hours. Instead, all deceased were treated on a
“first come, first served” basis. The first claimant was a
charity representing the Orthodox Jewish community on burial
rights, and the second claimant was an Orthodox Jewish woman who
was 79 years old but was not at risk of dying in the immediate
term. In that case, there was no claimant representing a deceased
against whom the policy had actually been exercised. The judge
determined that the coroner’s policy was unlawful under the Human
Rights Act 1988 and the Equality Act 2010, and the policy was
quashed.
The policy was not being applied directly to anyone in the case.
Therefore, a court might have regarded it as adequate to require
future actions and amendment by the coroner, but no immediate
action in the form of an instant quashing order. That would have
engaged the presumption in proposed new section 29A(9) of the
1981 Act. Had Mrs Cymerman died in the meantime, however, the
policy would have been applied to her and all others in the
Orthodox Jewish community under the coroner’s jurisdiction,
because proposed new section 29A(3) to (5) would make the
unlawful policy valid...
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