Losing One's Faculties

Abstract

Two main functions are performed by the consistory court. The first is the discipline of clergy which is presently the subject of a wholesale review by General Synod following the recommendations of the Hawker Report and has been the subject of much comment, not least in the pages of this Journal. At the time of writing, a draft Measure is still awaited. The second main function is the exercise of the faculty jurisdiction in relation to church buildings, their contents and their surroundings. Central to the effective exercise of this jurisdiction is the ecclesiastical exemption—a pragmatic ‘stand-off’ between central government and certain Christian denominations whereby listed church buildings are not subject to the secular sytem of listed building consent or conservation area control by local authorities. This too has been the subject of recent review. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the consistory court in faculty matters and to contribute to the debate which the Newman Report will doubtless engender. The views expressed are, of course, my own and not those of the Ecclesiastical Law Society or any other body.