Law and religion roundup – 3rd August

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A crem is a crem is a crem?

Section 2 of the Cremation Act 1902 provides that ‘The expression “crematorium” shall mean any building fitted with appliances for the purpose of burning human remains, and shall include everything incidental or ancillary thereto’. Section 5 of the Act generally prohibits siting a crematorium within 200 yards of dwelling houses and within 50 yards of a public highway (“the radius clause”).

In Wathen-Fayed v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2025] UKSC 32, Horizon Cremation Ltd had sought to develop a crematorium in an open field in the Metropolitan Green Belt. The proposed development included a ceremony hall, memorial areas, a garden of remembrance and associated parking and infrastructure. Horizon made it clear that there would be no disposal or scattering of ashes on the site, but it contemplated storing ashes in the memorial gardens in suitably designed receptacles. Tandridge District Council refused the application, but planning permission was granted after an appeal to an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State [6-8]. Mrs Wathen-Fayed brought proceedings under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 seeking to quash the inspector’s decision, arguing that the grant of planning permission was contrary to the radius clause and that the radius distances were required to be measured from an area that included the memorial garden in which ashes might be stored. On that basis, she contended, the proposed development contravened the Act [9]. Her claims were dismissed at first instance and by the Court of Appeal [10], but the Supreme Court subsequently granted permission to appeal.

The essential point of the appeal was a matter of statutory interpretation – precisely what was meant by a “crematorium” for the purpose of section 5 of the Cremation Act – and the Court unanimously dismissed the appeal. It held that in section 5, “crematorium” meant a ‘building fitted with appliances for the purpose of burning human remains’ (ie the crematory building itself). Therefore, the distances specified in section 5 of the Act were to be measured from the building housing the crematory [79; 101].

Charity Commission official warnings

The Charity Commission for England and Wales has issued official warnings to the Central Oxford Mosque Society and The Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent. In both cases it was found that there had been misconduct and / or mismanagement committed in connection with the charities.  

In the case of Central Oxford Mosque Society, the Commission opened a case into the charity after concerns were raised about posts on the charity’s social media platform in October and November 2023.  

The posts commented on the recent escalation of conflict in the Middle East. One provided information on what to do if arrested at a protest and advertised the services of a specific private solicitor’s firm. Another featured a graphic cartoon which seemed to criticise media reporting of the conflict. A third included another cartoon suggesting the media misrepresents the situation in Palestine. Both cartoons were shared by the charity three days after the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The Commission considered that sharing the cartoons could create community tensions in the context of the conflict in the Middle East. The Commission concluded that the posts were outside the charity’s purposes, and that two were divisive and inflammatory.  

The Commission acknowledges that, since it gave the charity notice of its intention to issue an Official Warning, the charity’s trustees have taken steps to address the concerns. 

In the case of the Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent, the Commission opened a case after concerns were raised in the media about speeches held at the charity’s premises. The sermons were promoted on the speaker’s social media channel. It determined that of five speeches given at the charity’s premises in November and December 2023, four included inflammatory and divisive content, two contained content that could reasonably be interpreted as encouraging support of Hamas, a proscribed organisation, and one could be reasonably interpreted as discouraging worshippers from engaging with democratic processes.  

The Commission found that, at the time of the speeches, the charity did not have effective policies in place to manage risks related to speakers at the charity. In response to the regulator’s concerns, the charity’s trustees did not demonstrate that they fully understood the risk of reputational harm being caused by the sermon and were unable to offer adequate assurance that they would take action to prevent a similar failure in the future. The Commission notes that, since it gave the charity notice of its intention to issue an Official Warning, the charity has adopted a written policy on speakers.

Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit

The dismissal by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of three theology professors from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, including Ed Peters, Professor of Canon Law, has sparked controversy. Readers will be aware of the work of Ed Peters through his canon law blog, In Light of the Law, and his many publications. Events have progressed further and the legality of the measures through which their contracts were terminated are now being questioned. 

Choral Evensong as heritage?

Baroness Prentice of Banbury (Con) asked HMG, “whether they are considering adding the church choral tradition to the list of inventories under the UN Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage” – to which Baroness Twycross replied on 29 July:

“Communities of practice will be able to submit their living heritage to the inventories when we open for submissions later this year. We would welcome a submission on church choral tradition.”

Choral Evensong aficionados, now’s your chance.

[David comments: from recent informal discussions with attenders at a RunBySingers workshop, it was evident that the [Church of England] choral tradition is not confined to the robed choirs of the CofE; it includes the many choral groups who sing Choral Evensong at Cathedrals &c whilst the regular singers are touring/on leave, and is very popular in mainland Europe, the US and Canada. Those in doubt on the broader role of Choral Evensong might be persuaded by reading Evensong: Notes from the choir by Timothy E. Popple.]

Quick Links

And finally…

Tom Lehrer, the American mathematician, musician and satirist (who once described his keyboard playing as “the 88-string guitar”), died at the age of 97 on 27 July 2025. His relevance to law and religion, albeit peripheral, lies in his composition Vatican Rag, a commentary on the some of the reforms introduced by the the Second Vatican Council, aka  “Vatican II”, which is well known by a number of ecclesiastical lawyers and others. He also had refreshing view of copyright on his compositions, which he “permanently and irrevocably relinquished” in a Disclaimer. 

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