Clergy Discipline Measure 2003

Legislation Crest

E

Clergy Discipline Measure 2003

2003 No. 3

A Measure passed by the General Synod of the Church of England to amend the law relating to ecclesiastical discipline, to amend section 3 of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 and section 5(5) of the Ecclesiastical Judges and Legal Officers Measure 1976, and for purposes connected therewith.

[10th July 2003]

IntroductoryE

1Duty to have regard to bishop’s roleE

Any body or person on whom functions in connection with the discipline of persons in Holy Orders are conferred by this Measure shall, in exercising those functions, have due regard to the role in that connection of the bishop or archbishop who, by virtue of his office and consecration, is required to administer discipline.

2Disciplinary tribunalsE

Where a complaint is to be referred under this Measure to a disciplinary tribunal the tribunal (to be called the bishop’s disciplinary tribunal) shall be constituted for the diocese in question in accordance with section 22 below to deal with the complaint.

3Clergy Discipline CommissionE

(1)There shall be a body (to be called the Clergy Discipline Commission) consisting of not more than twelve persons appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Church of England including at least—

(a)two persons from each House of the General Synod;

(b)two persons who have either a seven years general qualification within the meaning of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41) or who have held or are holding high judicial office or the office of Circuit judge.

(2)The Appointments Committee shall, after consultation with the Dean of the Arches and Auditor, appoint a member of the Commission to be the chairman of the Commission and also a member to be the deputy chairman, being members who have the qualifications referred to in subsection (1)(b) above.

(3)The Commission shall exercise the functions conferred on it by this Measure and in addition shall have the following duties—

(a)to give general advice to disciplinary tribunals, the courts of the Vicars-General, bishops and archbishops as to the penalties which are appropriate in particular circumstances;

(b)to issue codes of practice and general policy guidance to persons exercising functions in connection with clergy discipline;

(c)to make annually to the General Synod through the House of Bishops thereof a report on the exercise of its functions during the previous year.

Commencement Information

I1S. 3 in force at 1.10.2003 by S.I. 2003/3, Instrument made by Archbishops

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6Jurisdiction in disciplinary proceedingsE

(1)A disciplinary tribunal constituted for a diocese has jurisdiction to hear and determine disciplinary proceedings under this Measure against a priest or deacon—

(a)who, when the misconduct complained of was alleged to have been committed, held preferment in the diocese or, subject to subsection (3) below, was resident therein; or

(b)who is alleged to have officiated as a minister in the diocese without authority.

(2)The Vicar-General’s court of each of the provinces of Canterbury and York constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Measure has jurisdiction to hear and determine disciplinary proceedings under this Measure—

(a)against any bishop who, when the misconduct complained of was alleged to have been committed, held preferment in the province or, subject to subsection (3) below, was resident therein; or

(b)against any bishop who is alleged to have officiated as a minister in the province without authority; or

(c)against the archbishop of the other province.

(3)Where disciplinary proceedings in respect of any matter are instituted under section 10 below against—

(a)a priest or deacon in the diocese in which he holds or held preferment or in which he is alleged to have officiated as a minister without authority, or

(b)a bishop in the province in which he holds or held preferment or in which he is alleged to have officiated without authority,

no such proceedings in respect of the same matter shall be instituted in any other diocese or the other province, as the case may be, on the basis of residence therein and any such proceedings previously instituted on that basis shall be discontinued.

(4)Where disciplinary proceedings in respect of any matter are instituted under section 10 below against—

(a)a priest or deacon in the diocese in which he is alleged to have officiated without authority, or

(b)a bishop in the province in which he is alleged to have officiated without authority,

no such proceedings in respect of the same matter shall be instituted in any other diocese or the other province, as the case may be, on the basis of preferment therein and any such proceedings previously instituted on that basis shall be discontinued.

(5)In this section and elsewhere in this Measure “preferment” has the meaning assigned to it by section 43 below.

Disciplinary proceedings concerning matters not involving doctrine, ritual or ceremonialE

7ApplicationE

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10Institution of proceedingsE

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12Courses available to bishopE

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14Conditional defermentE

15ConciliationE

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17Formal investigationE

18Conduct of proceedingsE

19Imposition of penaltyE

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Composition of tribunal and Vicar-General’s courtE

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22Disciplinary tribunalsE

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PenaltiesE

24Types of penaltyE

(1)One or more of the following penalties may be imposed on a respondent upon a finding that he has committed any misconduct, namely—

(a)prohibition for life, that is to say prohibition without limit of time from exercising any of the functions of his Orders;

(b)limited prohibition, that is to say prohibition for a specific time from exercising any of the functions of his Orders;

(c)removal from office, that is to say, removal from any preferment which he then holds;

(d)in the case of a minister licensed to serve in a diocese by the bishop thereof, revocation of the licence;

(e)injunction, that is to say, an order to do or to refrain from doing a specified act;

(f)rebuke.

(2)No penalty of removal from office imposed on an archbishop or bishop or on any person holding any preferment the right to appoint to which is vested in Her Majesty (not being a parochial benefice) shall have effect unless and until Her Majesty by Order in Council confirms the penalty.

25Conditional dischargeE

(1)Where, upon a finding that the respondent has committed any misconduct, the disciplinary tribunal or Vicar-General’s court, as the case may be, is of opinion, having regard to the circumstances including the nature of the misconduct and the character of the respondent, that it is inexpedient to impose a penalty it may make an order discharging him subject to the condition that he commits no misconduct during such period not exceeding two years from the date of the order as may be specified in the order.

(2)Before making an order under subsection (1) above the tribunal or court shall explain to the respondent in ordinary language that if he commits further misconduct during the period specified in the order a penalty may be imposed for the original misconduct.

(3)Where, under subsection (4) below, a penalty is imposed on a person conditionally discharged under subsection (1) above for the misconduct in respect of which the order for conditional discharge was made, that order shall cease to have effect.

(4)If a person in whose case an order has been made under subsection (1) above is found, in disciplinary proceedings under this Measure, to have committed misconduct during the period specified in the order, the disciplinary tribunal or the Vicar-General’s court, as the case may be, may deal with him for the misconduct for which the order was made in any manner in which it could deal with him if it had just found that he had committed that misconduct.

26Removal of prohibition for life and depositionE

(1)Where by virtue of anything done under this Measure or the 1963 Measure a priest or deacon is prohibited for life or deposed he may make an application to the archbishop concerned for the prohibition or deposition to be nullified on the grounds—

(a)that new evidence has come to light affecting the facts on which the prohibition or deposition was based; or

(b)that the proper legal procedure leading to the prohibition or deposition was not followed.

(2)If the archbishop, on an application made in accordance with subsection (1) above, considers that the prohibition or deposition was not justified he may, after consultation with the Dean of the Arches and Auditor, declare that the prohibition or deposition be nullified, whereupon it shall be treated for all purposes in law as never having been imposed.

(3)This section shall apply to archbishops and bishops who are prohibited for life or deposed as it applies to priests and deacons who are prohibited for life or deposed, with the following adaptations—

(a)in the case of an archbishop, the references to the archbishop concerned shall be read as references to the Dean of the Arches and Auditor and the reference to consultation with him shall be omitted;

(b)in the case of a bishop, the references to the archbishop concerned shall be read as references to the archbishop of the other province.

27Removal of limited prohibitionE

Where by virtue of anything done under this Measure or the 1963 Measure an archbishop, bishop, priest or deacon is prohibited from exercising functions for a specific time he and the archbishop or bishop of the province or diocese concerned (or his successor in office) acting jointly may make an application to the Dean of the Arches and Auditor sitting with the two Vicars-General for the removal of the prohibition; and on receiving such an application they may make an order removing the prohibition, whereupon he shall be eligible for any preferment.

28Restoration on pardonE

Where by virtue of anything done under this Measure an archbishop, bishop, priest or deacon is prohibited from exercising functions or removed from office his incapacities shall cease if he receives a free pardon from the Crown and he shall be restored to any preferment he previously held if it has not in the meantime been filled.

29Disobedience to penalty etc.E

Any person (including a person deposed from Holy Orders under the 1963 Measure) who performs in the Church of England any function which, under a penalty imposed on him under this Measure or a censure imposed on him under the 1963 Measure, he is not permitted to perform commits an act of misconduct under this Measure and, in the case of a person deposed from Holy Orders, disciplinary proceedings under this Measure may be instituted against him in respect of the misconduct as if he had not been deposed.

Proceedings in secular courtsE

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32Consequences of penalties imposed under section 30 or 31E

33Duty to disclose criminal convictions and arrestsE

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MiscellaneousE

35Application of 1963 Measure’s provisionsE

(1)The following provisions of the 1963 Measure shall apply for the purpose of this Measure as they apply for the purposes of that Measure, with the adaptations specified in subsection (2) below—

  • Section 58 (payment of costs)

  • Section 60 (powers re-costs)

  • Section 61 (recovery of costs)

  • Section 62 (payment of expenses)

  • Section 63 (fees payable)

  • Section 71 (performance of duties during suspension etc)

  • Section 72 (occupation of parsonage house)

  • Section 73 (suspension of penalty during appeal)

  • Section 74 (restrictions during suspension etc.)

  • Section 75 (provisions as to lapse on avoidance of preferment)

  • Section 76 (rights of patronage during suspension etc.)

  • Section 78 (recording of declarations etc.)

  • Section 80 (place of sitting)

  • Section 81 (evidence etc.)

  • Section 83(2) and (3) (savings).

(2)In the application of those provisions for the purposes of this Measure they shall be read with the following adaptations—

(a)subject to the following provisions of this subsection, for any reference to the 1963 Measure there shall be substituted a reference to this Measure;

(b)for any reference to an offence cognisable under section 14 of the 1963 Measure there shall be substituted a reference to misconduct;

(c)any reference to a court shall be construed as including a reference to a disciplinary tribunal;

(d)for any reference to a declaration made or to be made in accordance with the provisions of the 1963 Measure there shall be substituted a reference to a penalty imposed under section 30 or 31 above;

(e)any reference to a person nominated to promote proceedings shall be construed as a reference to a person who may, by virtue of section 10 above or section 42 below, institute disciplinary proceedings under this Measure;

(f)for any reference to suspension or inhibition there shall be substituted a reference to prohibition;

(g)for any reference to a censure there shall be substituted a reference to a penalty.

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39Code of PracticeE

(1)It shall be the duty of the Clergy Discipline Commission to formulate guidance for the purposes of the Measure generally and, with the approval of the Dean of the Arches and Auditor, to promulgate the guidance in a Code of Practice.

(2)The Clergy Discipline Commission may at any time amend or replace a Code of Practice issued under subsection (1) above by a further Code of Practice issued in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(3)A Code of Practice shall be laid before the General Synod and shall not come into force until approved by the General Synod, whether with or without amendment.

(4)Where the Business Committee of the General Synod determines that a Code of Practice does not need to be debated by the General Synod then, unless—

(a)notice is given by a member of the General Synod in accordance with its Standing Orders that he wishes the Code to be debated, or

(b)notice is so given by any such member that he wishes to move an amendment to the Code,

the Code shall, for the purposes of subsection (3) above, be deemed to have been approved by the General Synod without amendment.

Commencement Information

I2S. 39 in force at 1.10.2003 by S.I. 2003/3, Instrument made by Archbishops

40When convictions etc. are to be deemed conclusiveE

(1)Proceedings under this Measure and a conviction by a secular court shall become conclusive for the purposes of this Measure—

(a)where there has been an appeal, upon the date on which the appeal is dismissed or abandoned or the proceedings on appeal are finally concluded, but, if varied on appeal, shall be conclusive only as so varied, and so far as it is reversed on appeal shall cease to have effect;

(b)if there is no such appeal, upon the expiration of the time limited for such appeal, or in the case of a conviction where no time is so limited, of two months from the date of the conviction; and

(c)in the case of a conviction against which there is no right of appeal from the date of the conviction.

(2)After the conviction of a clerk in Holy Orders by a secular court becomes conclusive a certificate of such conviction shall, for the purposes of this Measure be conclusive proof that he has committed the act therein specified.

(3)In the event of any such conviction by a secular court as makes a clerk in Holy Orders subject to removal from any preferment, or renders him liable to proceedings under this Measure the court shall cause the prescribed certificate of the conviction to be sent to the bishop of the diocese in which the court sits, and such certificate shall be preserved in the registry of the diocese, or of any other diocese to which it may be sent by the direction of the bishop.

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45RulesE

(1)Rules made under section 26(1) of the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991 (1991 No. 1) may make provision for carrying into effect the provisions of this Measure and, accordingly, in that subsection after paragraph (e) there shall be inserted the words—

(f)the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003;.

(2)In section 26(2) of that Measure—

(a)in paragraph (a) for the words from “commissions” to “Measures 1990 and 1994”, there shall be substituted the words “ disciplinary tribunals, commissions, committees and examiners provided for in the 1963 Measure, the Care of Cathedrals Measures 1990 and 1994 or the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 ”;

(b)in paragraph (c) after the word “courts,” there shall be inserted the words “ disciplinary tribunals, ”;

(c)after paragraph (c) there shall be inserted the words “ (cc) the procedure and practice where complaints are referred to registrars under section 11 of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 ”.

(3)In section 25(2)(c) of that Measure after the words “1963 Measure” there shall be inserted the words “ or disciplinary proceedings under the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003, ”.

Commencement Information

I3S. 45 in force at 1.10.2003 by S.I. 2003/3, Instrument made by Archbishops

46RepealsE

The enactments specified in Schedule 2 to this Measure are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the second column of the Schedule .

47Transitional provisionsE

(1)Nothing in this Measure shall affect any proceedings instituted under Part III of the 1963 Measure or declaration made under Part IX thereof before the date on which section 8 above comes into operation, and the provisions of that Measure shall continue to apply in relation to any such proceedings or declaration as if this Measure had not been passed.

(2)Proceedings under this Measure may be instituted in relation to misconduct committed before the date on which section 8 above comes into operation:

Provided that the provisions of the 1963 Measure shall continue to apply in relation to any offence under that Measure committed before that date which does not constitute misconduct under this Measure as if this Measure had not been passed.

(3)This Measure shall not affect any censure, deposition, declaration of deprivation and disqualification or notice of inhibition imposed under the 1963 Measure, but any such censure, or declaration shall be deemed for the purposes of this Measure to be a penalty imposed under this Measure of the kind corresponding to the censure or declaration, and sections 26 to 29 above shall have effect in relation thereto accordingly.

(4)Sections 30 and 31 above shall apply in relation to sentences of imprisonment passed before, as well as after, the date on which those sections come into operation.

48Citation, commencement and extentE

(1)This Measure may be cited as the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.

(2)This Measure shall come into operation on such date as the archbishops of Canterbury and York may jointly appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions.

(3)This Measure shall extend to the whole of the Provinces of Canterbury and York except the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but the provisions thereof may be applied to the Channel Islands as defined in the Channel Islands (Church Legislation) Measures 1931 and 1957, or either of them, in accordance with those Measures and if an Act of Tynwald or an instrument made in pursuance of an Act of Tynwald so provides, shall extend to the Isle of Man subject to such exceptions, adaptations or modifications as may be specified in the Act of Tynwald or instrument.

Commencement Information

I4S. 48 in force at 1.10.2003 by S.I. 2003/3, Instrument made by Archbishops

SCHEDULES

Section 44(2).

SCHEDULE 1EAmendment of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963

1EThe Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 (1963 No. 1) shall be amended as follows.

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3EIn section 3—

(a)in subsection (2)(b) for the words “prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation” there shall be substituted the words “ president of tribunals from among the persons serving on the provincial panel ”;

(b)in subsection (2)(c) for the words from “Chairman” to “appropriate” there shall be substituted the words “ president of tribunals from among the persons serving on the provincial panel of the relevant province ”;

(c)in subsection (4) for the words from “Chairman” to “Courts” there shall be substituted the words “ president of tribunals appoints a person to be a judge of either of the said Courts under paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of this section ”;

(d)in subsection (5)(b)(ii) for the words from “Upper” to “resolves” there shall be substituted the words “ president of tribunals determines ”.

4EIn section 7—

(a)in subsection (1A) after the word “York” there shall be inserted the words “ (including that Court as constituted in accordance with the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 ”);

(b)after subsection (1A) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(1B)Each of the said Courts shall also have jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from judgments, orders or decrees of disciplinary tribunals within the provinces for which they are constituted respectively..

(c)in subsection (2) for the words from “(a) in a civil suit” to the end there shall be substituted the words—

(a)in a disciplinary case, at the instance of any party to the proceedings on a question of law and the defendant on a question of fact;

(b)in any other case, at the instance of any party to the proceedings but only with the leave of the consistory court or the Vicar-General’s Court as the case may be or, if leave is refused by that court, of the Dean of the Arches and Auditor.

5EIn section 12—

(a)after the words “consistory court” there shall be inserted the words “ , Vicar-General’s court or disciplinary tribunal ”;

(b)for the words “or officers of any such court” there shall be substituted the words “ , members or officers of any such court or tribunal ”.

6EIn section 47—

(a)in subsection (1) for the words from “shall” to “in any other case,” there shall be substituted the words “ under this Measure shall be heard and disposed of ”;

(b)in subsection (2) for the words from the beginning to “proceedings” there shall be substituted the words “ Proceedings under this Measure ”.

7EIn section 49(3) for the words from the beginning to “ceremonial” there shall be substituted the words “ In proceedings under this Measure ”.

8EIn section 50 after the word “pronounced” there shall be inserted the words “ in pursuance of proceedings under this Measure ”.

9EIn section 52 after the word “deposed” there shall be inserted the words “ under this Measure ”.

10EIn section 66(1) at the end there shall be inserted the words—

disciplinary tribunal”, “president of tribunals” and “provincial panel” have the same meanings as in the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.

11EIn section 67 the words from “shall be determined in accordance” to “between each other” shall be omitted.

12EIn section 69 for the words “Parts IV, V and VI” there shall be substituted the words “ Part VI ”.

13EIn section 74(1) after the words “this Measure” there shall be inserted the words “ for a specified time ”.

14EIn section 76(1) after the words “this Measure” there shall be inserted the words “ for a specified time ”.

Section 46.

SCHEDULE 2ERepeals

Measure Extent of repeal
1963 No. 1, Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963