R (Rudewicz) v Secretary of State for Justice

Subject Matter

BURIAL — Disinterment — Licence — Remains of priest belonging to Polish branch of Roman Catholic religious order interred in grounds of institution formerly owned by order — Order, supported by its superiors, applying for licence to remove remains to nearby cemetery — Strong objection to grant of licence by distant relative and by Polish community — Secretary of State granting licence — Whether presumption of permanence of burial applicable on application for licence — Whether Convention rights engaged — Whether decision to grant licence proportionate — Whether irrational — Burial Act 1857, s 25 — Human Rights Act 1998, Sch 1, Pt I, arts 8, 9

[2013] QB 410; [2012] 3 WLR 901

Appellate History