Jewish and Muslim families will be able to prevent pathologists from cutting open the bodies of their loved ones for inquest post mortems, the Government announced today.

Coroners will consider faith issues when deciding how to determine the cause of a death and, where possible, will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning rather than an invasive autopsy.

Muslim and Jewish communities object to invasive post mortems because they conflict with religious beliefs about the sanctity of the body.

The announcement by the Ministry of Justice is part of the biggest overhaul of the death certification and coroners system for more than one hundred years.

Bridget Prentice, a junior justice minister, said: “The loss of a loved one is extremely difficult for any family to deal with. For some individuals and members of faith groups, the thought of an invasive post mortem can compound the grief and distress, particularly when the procedure is against the tenets of the individual’s faith.”

A trial scheme is already being conducted by Coroner Jennifer Leeming in Salford and Bolton.

Mrs Leeming has been piloting a system where pathologists can use a hospital scanner to determine the cause of death instead of the conventional post mortem.

The MRI scans have been operated out-of-hours by radiographers at North Manchester General Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary with the results sent back to the coroner on a computer disc.

The 3D scans, like those used on pregnant women, cost £500, with subsequent scans costing £350 each. Families who opt for them are asked to foot the bill.

Mrs Leeming said the results are “more than 99 per cent” accurate.

The area has a large Jewish and Muslim community, but the scan is available to people of all faiths.

However, the Ministry made clear that because an MRI scan may not be the appropriate means to determining a cause of death in every case, the coroner will be required to make the decision on a case by case basis.

The reforms to the death certification and coroner system follow a recommendations made by an inquiry chaired by Dame Janet Smith in to the circumstances surrounding the UK’s worst serial killer Dr Harold Shipman.

Shipman, who died in prison, is believed to have murder 215 elderly patients.

The existing coroner system was created in 1887 and despite reviews in 1966 and 1971, little action was taken to modernise it until Dame Janet reported five years ago.

There are about 500,000 deaths a year. In 2007 234,000 deaths were referred to a coroner, of which 100,360 required post mortem examinations – a fall of 20,000 in three years.

(Source: Times Online UK)