In Scotland, the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 provides for an inspection regime for funeral premises, a code of practice for funeral directors and a funeral director licensing scheme; however, there is no such scheme of regulation in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland.

As regular readers will know, preventing a lawful and decent burial of a dead body is an offence at common law in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, and there have been a few serious recent examples of convictions. Continue reading →