LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL SYNOD:
COMMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS ON THE DIOCESE IN EUROPE MEASURE
INTRODUCTION
1. The Legislative Committee of the General Synod,
to which the Measure entitled the Clergy Discipline (Amendment)
Measure ('the Measure') has been referred, has the honour to submit
the Measure to the Ecclesiastical Committee with these Comments
and Explanations.
2. The Measure amends the Clergy Discipline Measure
2003 ('the 2003 Measure').
3. The amendments fall into four areas:
· it will be 'misconduct' for the purposes
of the 2003 Measure for a cleric to be a member of or to promote,
or express or solicit support for, a party or organisation which
is declared to be incompatible with the teachings of the Church
of England in relation to race equality;
· following a determination in a bishop's
disciplinary tribunal (which hears complaints against priests
and deacons) or a Vicar-General's Court (which hears complaints
against bishops and archbishops), a party wishing to appeal will
no longer have an automatic right to appeal, but will require
leave to appeal;
· a bishop will have increased power to
remove a cleric from office following criminal conviction, or
inclusion in a barred list established under the Safeguarding
Vulnerable Groups Act 2006;
· the 2003 Measure will be amended in a
number of essentially technical respects.
With the exception of the first amendment (which
gives effect to a policy decision of the General Synod) all the
amendments are intended to make modest improvements to a disciplinary
system that is generally recognised as working well.
4. This paper is in four parts. In paragraphs
6 to 19 it explains the background which led up to the introduction
of the draft Measure into the General Synod. Next, in paragraphs
20 to 85 it describes the provisions of the Measure. In the third
part, paragraphs 86 to 123, it summarises the proceedings in the
General Synod as the draft Measure was considered, revised and
finally approved. Lastly, in the annexes there is some supplementary
material.
5. The Legislative Committee invites the Ecclesiastical
Committee, after having considered the material presented here,
to issue a favourable report on the Measure. If the Ecclesiastical
Committee requires any further explanation, the Legislative Committee
stands ready to provide it.
6. The Legislative Committee of the General Synod,
to which the Measure entitled the Diocese in Europe Measure has
been referred, has the honour to submit the Measure to the Ecclesiastical
Committee with these Comments and Explanations.
7. The Diocese in Europe Measure confers a new
power on the Church Commissioners for England and Archbishops'
Council to make payments to the Diocese in Europe, modifies the
application of the National Institutions Measure 1998 and amends
the Constitution of the General Synod set out in Schedule 2 to
the Synodical Government Measure 1969. It also makes a consequential
repeal of section 3 of the Diocese in Europe Measure 1980.
BACKGROUND TO THE MEASURE
8. The 2003 Measure has been fully in force since
1st January 2006. It provides procedures which enable
bishops to deal with the vast majority of formal complaints about
clergy misconduct (other than complaints relating to doctrine,
ritual or ceremonial, which come within the provisions of the
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963). For the small proportion
of cases that cannot be resolved by bishops the 2003 Measure has
established a modern tribunal system which is compliant with human
rights legislation. A summary of the procedures under the 2003
Measure can be found in Annex 1 to this paper.
The Clergy Discipline Commission
9. The body responsible for overseeing the operation
of the 2003 Measure is the Clergy Discipline Commission ('the
Commission'), which is constituted under section 3 of the 2003
Measure. The Commission has not more than twelve members, to
include at least two members from each House of the General Synod.
The Chair is the Right Honourable Sir John Mummery (Lord Justice
Mummery). The Commission has a duty to formulate guidance for
the purposes of the 2003 Measure generally, and with the approval
of the Dean of the Arches and Auditor, to promulgate the guidance
in a code of practice; a code, or any amendments to a code, cannot
come into force until approved by the General Synod. The Commission
published its first code of practice in January 2006.
10. In October 2008, as part of its continual
overseeing of the operation of the 2003 Measure, the Commission
published a consultation paper setting out its views on certain
issues, including some on which concerns had been raised. Having
considered and analysed responses to the consultation the Commission
issued a paper in June 2009, and this was circulated to all members
of the General Synod and to those who had been included in the
consultation.
11. In July 2009 the General Synod passed a motion
which welcomed the Commission's paper, and invited the Archbishops'
Council to seek a report from the Commission on whether there
was a case for bringing forward draft legislation to amend the
2003 Measure or the Code of Practice made under it.
Private Member's Motion with regard to race
equality
12. At the February 2009 group of sessions of
the General Synod the following private member's motion had been
debated and carried:
'That this Synod, noting that in 2004 the
Association of Chief Police Officers adopted a policy whereby
"no member of the Police Service, whether police officer
or police staff, may be a member of an organisation whose constitution,
aims, objectives or pronouncements contradict the general duty
to promote race equality" and "this specifically includes
the British National Party", request the House of Bishops
to formulate and implement a comparable policy for the Church
of England, to apply to clergy, ordinands, and such employed lay
persons as have duties that require them to represent or speak
on behalf of the Church.'
13. A working group, independent of the Commission,
was set up under the chairmanship of the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds
to take forward the development of the policy referred to in the
Synod resolution. As part of its work, the working group recommended
to the House of Bishops that the 2003 Measure be amended to provide
that it would be conduct unbecoming for a cleric to be a member
of, or to promote or solicit support for, a party or organisation
whose constitution, polices, objectives or public statements were
declared in writing by the House of Bishops to be incompatible
with the teaching of the Church of England in relation to race
equality. The House of Bishops accepted that recommendation.
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
14. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
introduced changes to the law on safeguarding. It set up a new
body, the Independent Safeguarding Authority ('ISA'). ISA prevents
unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults
in 'regulated activity' by entering them on one or both of two
'barred lists' (one in respect of working with children, the other
with vulnerable adults). In keeping with the Church's safeguarding
policies consideration needed to be given to amending the 2003
Measure so that barred clergy could be removed from office.
The Commission's proposals for amendments
to the 2003 Measure
15. In light of the motion carried in the General
Synod in July 2009 and the subsequent House of Bishops' endorsement
of the working group's recommendations, plus the developments
in the law relating to safeguarding, the Commission assessed what
changes to the 2003 Measure and Code of Practice were needed.
In June 2010 the Commission duly reported to the Archbishops'
Council with its proposals for amendment.
16. In response to the Commission's recommendations,
the Archbishops' Council agreed that draft legislation to amend
the 2003 Measure and proposals to amend the Code of Practice should
be brought forward early in the new quinquennium. The Measure
was accordingly introduced into the General Synod at the February
2011 group of sessions.
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