To what extent are municipal cemetery regulations obliged to cater for the various religious preferences and convictions of the families of the deceased? That was the core of the dispute in R (Ul Haq) v Walsall MBC [2019] EWHC 70 (Admin).

The background

In R (Ul Haq), the claimant, a practising Barelvi Muslim, challenged the lawfulness of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council’s “Rules and Regulations in respect of Cemeteries and Crematoria” (the “Cemetery Policy”): specifically the provision in paragraph 6.9(g)) forbidding raised edgings around graves. Mr Ul Haq’s father had been a prominent member of the community and an imam; and after he had been buried at Streetly Cemetery (which is administered by Walsall MBC) the Council refused Mr Ul Haq permission to erect a four-inch raised marble edging around his father’s grave. Continue reading →