Prof. Norman Doe KC (Hon), Director of the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff Law School and Academic Bencher, Inner Temple, will speak about the history of the Court of Arches. His lecture will trace its development and the expansion of its jurisdiction in light of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1532 and Ecclesiastical Appeals Act 1533; the role played by the court in such matters as the dissolution of marriage until its jurisdiction was transferred to the secular courts by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857; and the evolution of its personnel, its procedures, and its landmark decisions and their concomitant impact on English law.

The Rt Worshipful Morag Ellis KC, Dean of the Arches, and Bencher, Gray’s Inn will outline the statutory basis that begets the present-day judicial authority of the Court by reference to Public General Acts and Statutory Instruments passed by the Houses of Parliament, and the rule-making authority of the General Synod of the Church of England that underpins its jurisdiction. She will then outline the procedures of the court by reference to the role of Canon Law; advocacy before the court; the rules of evidence; the limits of its jurisdiction; the role of ecclesiastical/common law precedent(s); its power to sanction; judgment-giving and the enforcement of the same.

The lecture is hosted by the Middle Temple Historical Society.