Francis Taylor Building is ranked by Chambers and Parrtners 2019 as the leading Chambers for ecclesiastical work.
Introduction
The present Dean of the Arches, Charles George QC, was a member of Chambers as was his predecessor, Sheila Cameron QC. For many years the Head of Chambers was Peter Boydell QC who was Chancellor of the Dioceses of Oxford, Truro and Worcester.
Morag Ellis QC is Commissary General (Chancellor) for the Diocese of Canterbury, Professor Mark Hill QC is the Chancellor of the Dioceses of Chichester, of West Yorkshire & the Dales and of Europe, and Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of York. Former member, Dr Charles Mynors is the Chancellor of the Diocese of Worcester and Philip Petchey is the Chancellor of the Diocese of Southwark. Robert Fookes is the Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Worcester, Gregory Jones QC is the Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Exeter and the Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Truro and Cain Ormondroyd is Chancellor for the Diocese of Winchester.
Mark Hill QC and Morag Ellis QC are members of the Legal Advisory Commission of the General Synod of the Church of England.
Morag Ellis QC is a member of the Archbishops’ Panel of Chairs of Disciplinary Tribunal, a member of the Rules Committee of General and QC Church Commissioner. She is also a Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) in the Diocese of Chelmsford.
Members of Chambers regularly advise on, and appear in, cases relating to ecclesiastical law and religious freedom including cases relating to the faculty jurisdiction of England and Wales, the employment and discipline of the clergy, the operation of charitable trusts, and the exercise of freedom of religion under both the Equality Act and the European Convention.
Faculty jurisdiction
Churches are exempt from listed building control, but the significant alteration of any church under the jurisdiction of the Church of England or the Church in Wales requires a faculty. Contested cases are considered by a consistory court, presided over by a Chancellor. Appeals are heard by the Court of Arches (in the Province of Canterbury) or the Chancery Court of York (in the Province of York).
Important cases in which members of Chambers have been involved include the following:
In re St Peter, Shipton Bellinger
Removal of Victorian font
In re Christ Church, Spitalfields
Jurisdiction to grant an injunction
In re St John the Baptist, Penshurst
Removal of Victorian screen
In re St Stephen Walbrook
Sale of painting by Benjamin West
In re St Peter and St Paul, Chingford
Installation of telecommunications equipment
In re Blagdon Cemetery
Exhumation
Property
Ownership by the Church of England and other ecclesiastical bodies can give rise to particular issues. Important cases in which members of Chambers have been involved include the following:
Gallagher v Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (House of Lords)
Exemption from business rates for places of worship
Aston Cantlow PCC v Wallbank (House of Lords)
Liability of land owner for repair of churchchancel
St Mary, Westwell
Footpath across churchyard
Barnes v Derby Diocesan Board of Finance
Sale of former vicarage
Employment and Clergy Discipline
Members of Chambers advise on all aspects of the employment of the clergy and of ministers. Important cases that have gone to a hearing include:
President of Methodist Conference v Preston (Supreme Court)
Employment status of clergy
In re Trumpington Parish Church
Pastoral breakdown under the Vacation of Benefices Measure
Re Gilmore (Clergy Discipline Tribunal)
Sexual misconduct of priest
Le Sueer v Faulks (Clergy Discipline Tribunal)
Record keeping
Re Meier (Clergy Discipline Tribunal
Sexual misconduct and breach of trust
R (Owen) v Bishop of Stafford
Renewal of appointment of team rector
Panayi v Katramados and Greek Orthodox Church
Vicarious liability of Archbishop
Religious liberty
Important cases involving members of Chambers include:
Eweida & Others v United Kingdom (European Court of Human Rights)
Christian symbols in the workplace
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v United Kingdom (European Court of Human Rights)
Discriminatory business rate provisions for Mormon temple
Greater Manchester Police v Power (Employment Appeal Tribunal)
Spiritualism as a religious belief
His Holiness Sant Baba Jeet Singh Ji Maharaj v Eastern Media Group and Singh (High Court)
Non-justiciability of matters of religious doctrine
Khaira and others v Shergill and others (Supreme Court)
Non-justiciability of matters of religious doctrine
R (on the application of HM Coroner for the Eastern District of London v The Secretary of State for Justice and Sutovic (Administrative Court)
Secretary of State's discretion on grant of exhumation licence
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Issues within and between members of religious bodies are particularly suitable for resolution by ADR. Of the Ecclesiastical and Religious Liberty Group, Mark Hill QC is an accredited mediator.
Publications
Mark Hill QC has written or contributed to the following publications. He is consultant editor of the Ecclesiastical Law Journal, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion.
- Ecclesiastical Law Third edition (Oxford University Press, 2007)
- English Canon Law (University of Wales Press, 1998) Jointly edited with N Doe and R Ombres
- Faithful Discipleship: Clergy Discipline in Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Law (Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University, 2001)
- Religious Liberty and Human Rights (University of Wales Press, 2002)
- Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law (Third edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2010), Contributing editor
- Law and Religion in the United Kingdom (Leuven, 2011) co-authored with R Sandberg and N Doe
- Religion and Discrimination Law in European Union (Trier, 2012), Editor
- Islam and English Law (Oxford University Press, 2013), which includes a chapter on faith based arbitration in family disputes co-authored with Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
- Magna Carta, Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press, 2015) jointly edited with Robin Griffith-Jones
- The Confluence of Law and Religion (Cambridge University Press, 2016) jointly edited with Russell Sandberg, Frank Cranmer and Celia Kenny
- Great Christian Jurists in English History (Cambridge University Press, 2016, forthcoming) jointly edited with Professor Richard Helmholz
Dr Charles Mynors is the author of Changing Churches: a Practical Guide to the Faculty System (Bloomsbury, June 2016).
Mark Hill QC is Honorary Professor at the Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University; Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria; Visiting Professor at the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College, London, and Adjunct Professor at Notre Dame University, Sydney. He is Ecumenical Fellow in Canon Law at the Venerable English College in Rome. In 2015, under the auspices of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human rights, he provided training for Ukrainian lawyers in taking religious cases to the European Court of Human Rights.
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