Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights

We noted the letter from the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, to the Home Secretary on the policing of protests in the United Kingdom. Joshua Rozenberg has subsequently suggested on Substack that it is possibly not the best time for his intervention:

“The commissioner’s mandate includes identifying ‘possible shortcomings in the law and practice of member states concerning the compliance with human rights’. He would presumably argue that he is doing no more than that. And his letter to the Home Secretary also complains about restrictions on other types of protest — as well as legislation currently before Parliament that would restrict the use of face-coverings.

But Mahmood may think that O’Flaherty has overstepped the mark in telling her what guidance to give the police and telling the courts how he thinks they should interpret the law.

She may also think his public intervention is particularly ill-timed, given that the government is currently defending its support for the 46-nation body against two opposition parties that are seeking to jeopardise the UK’s membership of the Council of Europe by denouncing the human rights convention.”

Preventing a decent and lawful burial

The Guardian reports that Robert Bush, who is charged with 67 offences including 30 counts of preventing a lawful burial and a fraudulent trading charge, has pleaded guilty to 35 counts of fraud, including handing unidentified ashes to the parents of four stillborn babies. He pleaded not guilty to preventing a decent and lawful burial of 30 bodies and will be tried on those charges in October 2026.

In that connexion, some of our posts achieve the expected degree of response, but sometimes there is an unexpected but substantial interest in a current or a past post. Over the past week, Preventing a lawful and decent burial has attracted over 1,000 page reads, yet the post was published in November 2024 and concerned an earlier article in 2016 prompted by a case in 2012. We can only assume that the latest interest in it was sparked by Robert Bush’s prosecution.

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

The Church of England has reported that the Bishop of Newcastle has been appointed to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Dr Helen-Ann Hartley will join the 13-member Committee, chaired by Lord Hope of Craighead, that will take evidence on the safeguards and procedures in the Bill. The Committee is ordered to report back no later than November 7, with the Bill progressing to its next stage after the Committee has reported.

East London Mosque charity fun run

The East London Mosque has been heavily criticised by the Government after organising an annual fun run which barred participation by females over the age of 12. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, told the BBC that he was “horrified and appalled” at the decision to exclude them: “We do not want a situation in this country where men are allowed to do things that women are then barred from. We cannot tolerate that.” Blocking women from such an event was “absolutely unacceptable”, and he said that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) would investigate.

Leaving the ECHR?

In the wake of Kemi Badenoch’s commitment at the Conservative Party conference that the UK will leave the ECHR should the Conservatives form the next Government, YouGov has published a poll showing that the public is generally opposed to leaving the Convention, with 46% saying we should remain a member as against 29% saying we should withdraw. The remaining 24% are unsure.

State visit to the Vatican

Only a rather vague connection with “law”, but The Independent reports that during next week’s state visit to the Vatican the King will attend a service at the papal basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, where St Paul’s tomb is located. The King is to be named a “Royal Confrater” of the adjoining Abbey of St Paul’s, and the Pope will also grant the King his own dedicated seat at the basilica bearing his coat of arms. The King will use the seat for the service next week, and it will remain permanently at the basilica for future use by His Majesty and his heirs and successors.

Quick Links

• Archdruid Eileen, The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley: Wine, Women and Song.
• Canterbury Cathedral: Delight and Displeasure: Art Installation’s Questions to God Divide Public Opinion.

And finally…

On 18 October, we posted additional WordPress information on the sources of readers of our “most-read” posts, for use in the post Law and Religion UK, the first thirteen years, to be published shortly). One of the more surprising findings was that we receive more referrals from the sidebar summaries on the Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley blog than we do from the Church Times. (Frank comments: it may surprise David, but it doesn’t surprise me!)