Lichfield Consistory Court: Shand Ch, June 2003
The petitioner was a parishioner who sought a faculty for the reservation of a single grave space adjoining the grave of her daughter for the establishment of a ‘family grave’. The petition was opposed by the incumbent and the PCC on the grounds that there was a parish policy against the reservation of grave spaces which had been applied since at least 1980. The policy had been reviewed and upheld in 1999. The chancellor stated that there was a strong argument for the court giving significant weight to the existence and terms of a parish policy when exercising its discretion in these circumstances, but expressed unease about giving excessive weight to such a policy. The chancellor referred to the Human Rights Act 1998 and stated that it was necessary to review the stated reasons for the formulation and implementation of the policy in order to assess whether upholding the policy was a proportionate interference with the petitioner’s Article 8 and Article 9 rights. The petition was dismissed.
(2004) 7 Ecc LJ 366
