UN Human Rights Council: freedom of religion or belief, death and funerals

On Wednesday, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Nazila Ghanea, presented a report at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva: How freedom of religion or belief relates to death and honouring the deceased.

She concludes that:

• respecting funeral rights requires States to refrain from violating these rights and to recognise the absolute right of everyone to have, adopt and change religion or belief without coercion, including restrictions on or denials of funeral rights in order to coerce the next of kin.
• protecting funeral rights requires States to prevent others from infringing them, “first and foremost by State actors themselves and secondly through due diligence obligations ensuring protection for individuals and communities in exercising funeral rights against threats, interruptions and violence from non-State actors”.
• fulfilling and promoting funeral rights requires States to take positive steps to ensure their enjoyment by everyone, without discrimination; and accountability for infringements “requires justice systems to be alert to, for example, disproportionate or exploitative burdens or charges on those requiring funeral rights that differ from the majority”. [With thanks to Mark Hill KC.]

Antisemitism in education review

On Wednesday, the Government announced an independent review into antisemitism in schools and colleges in England. The review is to be led by Sir David Bell, and will issue a call for evidence and programme of engagement “in Spring 2026”.

Confusion relating to marriages of foreign nationals

In response to the confusion regarding marriages of foreign nationals that could leave clergy falling foul of the Marriage Act 1949, as amended following the EU Settlement Scheme, the Registry of the Diocese of Oxford has issued the document Confusion relating to Marriages of Foreign Nationals. By way of reminder, only British and Irish nationals and those foreign nationals with EU Settled or Pre-Settled Status can be married by Banns or Common Licence. All other foreign nationals who do not have EU Settled or Pre-Settled Status should be married by Superintendent Registrar’s Marriage Schedule as per this guidance note: Foreign National without EU Settled Status. 

Further arrests at Westminster FMH

The Metropolitan Police has announced that on Thursday, officers of its Public Order Crime Team arrested fifteen members of a group called Take Back Power who were holding a planning meeting at Westminster Friends Meeting House for what the Met described as “a campaign that would have seen them steal from high street supermarkets before redistributing the stolen goods elsewhere”. They were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft. Some readers may recall that this is not the first time that a non-Quaker group meeting at Westminster FMH has been arrested and charged with conspiracy.

Scotland: the end of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

The Church of Scotland, which is the largest owner of listed buildings in Scotland, reports that, in a letter to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, the Scottish Church Leaders’ Forum has raised concerns about the ending of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme According to the report, the UK Government made the announcement that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS) would cease at the end of March 2026, without informing the Scottish Government. The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, a representative from the Kirk’s General Trustees and the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland will be holding talks on the matter with Kirsty McNeill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, on 10 March.

Scotland: new funerary methods

The Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 1) Regulations 2026 and the Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 came into effect on 2 March. The Regulations legalise the practice of alkaline hydrolysis, aka “water cremation”, in Scotland. As the BBC report points out, however, there is no hydrolysis facility in Scotland as yet, and before it can start, the necessary equipment will need to be built and installed, and the process will be subject to planning permission and approval from Scottish Water.

CPS Guidance on male circumcision

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance on offences against the person now includes male circumcision and states that, in certain circumstances such as the procedure being carried out by those falsely claiming to be suitably qualified practitioners or carried out in non-sterile conditions, it can cross the line into a harmful practice.

Offences such as child cruelty (contrary to s.1(1) Children and Young Persons Act 1933), causing or allowing a child to suffer serious harm (contrary to s.5 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004) and assaults (contrary to the Offences against the Person Act 1861), may apply. Prosecutors are requested to refer to Child Abuse (non-sexual) for prosecution guidance: “Every case submitted to the CPS for charge should be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration all the circumstances surrounding the act carried out.”

Quick links

• Sarah Gilzean, Lexology: Discrimination on the grounds of holding or expressing a belief will not generally be justifiable: a note on Ngole v Touchstone Leeds.

And finally…

On Tuesday, The Pillar posted The cardinal of Penzance, and camp commandments, which comments on Cardinal James Francis Stafford, who was consecrated a bishop at Baltimore Cathedral on 29 February 1976. Like Frederick — the “slave of duty” in The Pirates of Penzance — Cardinal Stafford can count his episcopal “birthdays” only in leap years. Consequently, he has celebrated only 12 anniversaries of episcopal life. “By that count, he’s hardly been a bishop at all”.