Judicial Review Judgement At 10 am this morning (23 May) in Court 3, Royal Courts of Justice, London, Lady Justice Hallett handed down the Judgement of the Judicial Review held on 13th and 14th March this year before herself, Mr Justice Ouseley and Mr Justice Haddon-Cave. The application by the Plantagenet Alliance challenged (1) the Secretary of State for Justice that the Exhumation Licence granted on 3 September 2012 was issued ‘without consulting, or attaching requiring the licencee to consult, as to how [or where] the remains of Richard III should be appropriately re-interred in the event that they were found. (2) The Decision of the Secretary of State for Justice on 4 February 2013 and subsequently ‘not to re-visit the grant of the Licence once it became clear the University would not carry out an appropriate consultation’ (3) The Decision of the University of Leicester on 4 February 2013 ‘to begin making arrangements for the re-interment of the remains of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral’. The judgement reads ‘there are no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question. In the result, therefore, the Claimant’s application for Judicial Review is dismissed’. A postscript was added: ‘Since Richard III’s exhumation on 5 September 2012, passions have been roused and much ink has been split. Issues relating to his life and death and place of re-interment have been exhaustively examined and debated. The Very Reverend David Monteith, the Dean of Leicester Cathedral, has explained the considerable efforts and expenditure invested by the Cathedral in order to create a lasting burial place “as befits an anointed King”. We agree that it is time for Richard III to be given as dignified reburial, and finally laid to rest.’ This judgement upholding the original licence granted to the University of Leicester by the Ministry of Justice now means that it is the hands of the university to follow through the requirements of that licence and they confirm that the reburial of King Richard III will go ahead as planned in Leicester Cathedral. The Society will work constructively with the cathedral to help bring this about. Consideration, however, should also now be given to the need for his remains to be removed to an appropriate place of sanctity before their re-burial. The full judgement is available online at: judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/richard-3rd-judgment-.pdf The Richard III Society’s Chairman, Phil Stone, commented ‘ I am very pleased that there has been a clear cut decision. It means that we can now move forward and reinter King Richard with the dignity and sanctity that is due to an anointed king of England. Understandably, the judgement will be a disappointment to the Plantagenet Alliance and its supporters, and indeed to many of our own members, but I hope that we can now all put the disagreements behind us and join together to honour King Richard when he is laid to rest in Leicester Cathedral. Executive Committee
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 13:48:36 +0000
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