Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of whether changes are required to the rules governing coroners' discretion to accommodate religious burial requirements.

The Ministry of Justice’s Guide to Coroner Services, which is available on gov.uk and is aimed in particular at bereaved families, says that “the coroner’s office will take account where possible of individuals’ views and expectations, including family and community preferences, traditions and religious requirements relating to mourning, post-mortem examinations and funerals.”

Ministers will be interested to see whether, in due course, the Courts have anything to say on the matter when judgment is given in the judicial review that has been brought against the Inner North London Coroner.