‘The Church of England made a six-figure pay-off to a priest assessed as a potential risk to children and young people, a BBC investigation has found.’
BBC news, 13th August 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘All Saints Spring Park Parochial Church Council v Church Commissioners [2024] UKPC 23 was an appeal by the PCC and the incumbent of All Saints Spring Park under the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council against a scheme made by the Church Commissioners under the Measure. An episcopal visitation in 2016 had concluded that the parish was not financially viable [5], and the Commissioners made a scheme under the Measure to dissolve the parish and divide its area between the neighbouring parishes of St John Shirley and St George Shirley. The incumbent, Revd Yvonne Clarke – who was the first black woman to be ordained deacon in the Church of England and one of the first women to be ordained priest [3] – and the Parochial Church Council had made written representations on the proposal, but the Bishop of Southwark duly approved the scheme in June 2020.’
Law & Religion UK, 31st July 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘Further to the notices relating to Jonathan Fletcher posted by the Diocese of Southwark and the Metropolitan Police, it is perhaps timely to include a link to the Attorney General’s Note, Contempt of court and social media.’
Law & Religion UK, 14th July 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘From his initial burial to the final interment in the church of St Mary and the Holy Rood, Donington, the remains of Captain Flinders have been been covered by different tranches of legislation: that relating to the churchyard in which he was first buried; that concerning the custody of the body during and after the infrastructure project; and finally, the ecclesiastical provisions governing burial within the church.’
Law & Religion UK, 12th July 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘Carrying out building work unlawfully and then applying for retrospective permission is always risky, whether in the ecclesiastical courts or under the secular planning laws. If permission is refused it may result in the work having to be demolished at great expense and inconvenience.’
Law & Religion UK, 21st May 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘Church pipe organs have featured in fewer than 2% of the total number of consistory court judgments reviewed in L&RUK. Nevertheless, the following links provide an indication of the range of issues that have been considered by the courts.’
Law & Religion UK, 10th May 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘The Archbishops of Canterbury and York and Bishop of Southwark have joined with leaders of the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed Churches in England and issued a joint statement; the Church’s Press Release is reproduced below.’
Law & Religion UK, 23rd April 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘In Re St. Mary Stalbridge [2024] EC Sal 1, Willink Dep. Ch. set out the circumstances in which an oil-fired boiler was installed in the church without a faculty; explained his decision to grant a confirmatory faculty; and the conditions under which this was granted. In the same judgment, the Deputy Chancellor gave directions requiring the provision of further evidence on the circumstances in which the boiler was unlawfully installed. Those directions are included as an annex to the subsequent judgment Re St. Mary Stalbridge [2024] EC Sal 2 which considers how the illegal act occurred and determines the court’s response.’
Law & Religion UK, 17th April 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘Further to the Tribunal Decision The Revd Canon Richard Peers, 21 March 2024, de Mestre Ch. issued a Ruling on paragraph 309 Clergy Discipline Measure 2003: Code of Practice concerning the possession and use of documents relating to the proceedings by third parties and the provision of these documents to them by the Complainant, 8 April 2024.’
Law & Religion UK, 11th April 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘Section 2 of the Compensation Act 2006 (Apologies, offers of treatment or other redress) was enacted to make it easier for organisations to apologise for their actions without admitting civil liability: it reads, “An apology, an offer of treatment or other redress, shall not of itself amount to an admission of negligence or breach of statutory duty”.’
Law & Religion UK, 10th April 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘The otherwise unremarkable case Re St. Lawrence Toot Baldon [2023] ECC Oxf 10 concerning a confirmatory faculty for an unauthorized leger stone, explored the issue of “sufficient interest” in faculty petitions – an issue on which there was “surprisingly little authority”.’
Law & Religion UK, 15th January 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘In JXH v The Vicar, Parochial Church Council and Churchwardens of the Parish Church of Holcombe Rogus [2023] EWHC 3221 (KB), JXH claimed damages for injury and harm caused by two sexual assaults committed in the period 1979-1981 by Vickery House. The claim was brought against the parish, House having been the incumbent at the time the assaults took place. The parties were agreed that the sexual assaults had taken place, that JXH had suffered damage, including mental harm, and that the appropriate damages award would be £12,000. At the time the assaults took place, BXB was living in a “quasi-monastic” community in a cottage in the parish with two other two young men, supervised by House.’
Law & Religion UK, 3rd January 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘On 16 June 2021 the Court of Arches handed down its reserved judgment Re St Giles Exhall [2021] EACC 1 on which we posted a Case Note. This appeal was prompted by the decision in Re St Giles, Exhall [2020] ECC Cov 1, where permission was denied for a faculty for a memorial stone to include the words “Inár gcroíthe go deo”: Irish Gaelic for “in our hearts forever”. In its judgment, the Arches Court considered the factors that Chancellors should take into account and apply in relation to schemes of delegation (a.k.a. “Churchyard Regulations”), and when determining faculty petitions concerning inscriptions in languages other than English.’
Law & Religion UK, 20th November 2023
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘The Church of England has taken its next step towards putting in place a “robust” scheme to deliver apologies and compensation to abuse victims.’
The Independent, 15th November 2023
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘In Reverend D Green v Lichfield Diocesan Board of Finance [2023] UKET 2409635/2022, the primary issue was the extent to which a stipendiary curate had standing to bring a claim before an Employment Tribunal.’
Law & Religion UK, 25th August 2023
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘The requirement to have “due regard” to statutory guidance is an important obligation placed upon the various actors in both consistory court proceedings and tribunals considering the Clergy Discipline Measure. This post considers guidance produced under the Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure 2007. Part II will address the authority of guidance; the application of guidance and sanctions; and Clergy Discipline and Safeguarding.’
Law & Religion UK, 15th August 2023
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘On 21 July 2023, the Diocese of Oxford issued the Press Release Learning Lessons Review: Revd Michael Hall, (“the Hall Review”), concerning the safeguarding case review it commissioned in April 2022 into allegations of spiritual abuse connected with St Margaret’s, Tylers Green, High Wycombe between 1981 and 2000. The review was the most recent of such “lessons learnt” reviews from the Diocese[1] and provides a present-day perspective of the Church’s approach to spiritual abuse both during and after the events at St Margaret’s.’
Law & Religion UK, 31st July 2023
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘The former Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has been banned from preaching in Newcastle.’
BBC News, 30th July 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Church of England has issued the following Press Release announcing that Professor Alexis Jay is to develop proposals for a fully independent structure for safeguarding scrutiny.’
Law & Religion UK, 20th July 2023
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘On 3 July 2023, Resomation Ltd (“Natural Water Cremation”) issued a Press Release which announced:
“In a move that is set to revolutionise the way we say goodbye to loved ones, the UK’s leading funeral provider, Co-op Funeralcare, is set to pioneer the introduction of Resomation in the UK later this year. It will mark a major shift in UK funerals for more than 120 years, as the first alternative to burial or cremation since the introduction of the Cremation Act of 1902.”’
Law & Religion UK, 4th July 2023
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
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