24 Apr 2018
Because there was a serious question to be tried and the balance of convenience and risk of irreversible harm favoured preserving the body pending resolution, the court granted an interim without‑notice injunction restraining cremation and ordered the body be uplifted to Middlemore mortuary and further directions be obtained.
18 Dec 2012
The common law does not confer an exclusive possessory right on an executor to determine burial to the exclusion of others; where there is dispute the High Court must resolve competing claims in its inherent jurisdiction weighing all relevant factors including the executor's views, family relationships, the deceased's expressed wishes and relevant tikanga; applying those principles the appeal was dismissed and the first respondent (as executrix and partner) was entitled to proceed under the exhumation licence to have James Takamore reburied in a place of her choosing, with the matter remitted…