Funeral payment scheme not unlawfully discriminatory against prisoners

29/07/11

The Court of Appeal today dismissed an appeal by Faith Stewart, whose son had died while she was serving a sentence of imprisonment.

Funeral payments are available only to those who have an award of a qualifying benefit (such as income support), but prisoners are ineligible for most qualifying benefits. Ms Stewart claimed that the scheme discriminated against her directly, alternatively indirectly, qua prisoner, contrary to Article 14 read with Article 1 of the First Protocol to the ECHR and that the discrimination was not justified because prisoners had as much need for assistance with the costs of a funeral as others.

The Court of Appeal held that there was no direct discrimination against prisoners, because some prisoners (albeit a small minority) were eligible for those payments. The scheme was admittedly indirectly discriminatory against prisoners, but the discrimination was justified in view of the policy of avoiding the need for a separate means-test at the point of application and the availability of alternative means of burial under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984.

The judgment is here.