Wakefield Consistory Court: Collier Ch, November 2003
In hearing together five petitions for the exhumation of human remains the chancellor considered the judgments in Re Christ Church, Alsager [1999] Fam 142; [1999] 1 All ER 117 and in Re Blagdon Cemetery [2002] Fam 299. The chancellor indicated that although strictly he was bound by the Alsager decision in the Northern Province he found it ‘wholly unreal’ to ignore the Blagdon decision of the Southern Province, not least where the court in the Blagdon decision had the additional benefit of full argument on both sides. The chancellor was not persuaded that there was much of real substance between the decisions, observing that both cases agreed:
(i) on the basic principle that burial in consecrated ground is final, and
(ii) that each case must be decided upon its own facts.
He applied part of the guidance in Alsager subject to observations made in the Blagdon decision. The chancellor indicated his belief that the increased number of petitions for exhumation was due to a widespread lack of understanding of the Christian theology of burial and urged efforts by the diocese, clergy, funeral directors and cemetery managers to ensure that the bereaved were made aware of the issues arising therefrom.
Note the article by Christopher Hill at p447 of this issue
(2004) 7 Ecc LJ 493
