Planned changes to the way deaths are reviewed in Scotland that might result in delays to burials have caused concern in the Jewish community. Photo: Roman Zacharij.

Planned changes to the way deaths are reviewed in Scotland that might result in delays to burials have caused concern in the Jewish community. The Scottish Parliament’s Certification of Death Bill was proposed to help detect deaths resulting from crime, such as the murder of multiple elderly people by the doctor Harold Shipman between 1975 and 1998. The bill requires the body to be kept until the review process is completed in case it is cremated and evidence is destroyed. The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities has requested an exemption, on the basis that Jewish cremations are rare, and suggested burials take place in parallel with the review. The proposed Bill recommends that 25 per cent of deaths are reviewed.