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anon @ 15.00

I don't think there is anything in the judgment that says religious views *have* to trump the views of other families who also have strong (but non-religious) views requiring quick decision. My reading of it is that if e.g. a family were requesting an urgent decision because Uncle Tom was flying back to Australia on Friday and they wanted the funeral before then, that can also be taken into account. The importance the Coroner gives to religious views in that

The judgment is just saying that having a blanket policy, which fetters the coroner's ability to include religious views as a factor in any decision, is unlawful. The coroner should not pre-judge the situation with inflexible rules.

Arguably, the Coroner's rule as stated would have precluded her from taking into account the kind of situation you suggest i.e. that some people may be perfectly content to wait a bit if others were requesting urgent burial on religious grounds.

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