On Sun, 11 May 2008 09:57:23 +0100, "Andrew McGee"
wrote:
>A long overdue reform.
>
>Now let's turn our attention to removing the other privileges which religion
>currently attracts,including places in the legislature and exemptions from
>tax.
The Church of England and the law have been bedfellows for a very very
long time. When one graduates LL.B., one of the Ls stands for Canon
Law. All diocesan bishops of a certain seniority are automatically
MPs (Members of the Lords House of Parliament). The Church of England
is largely exempt from planning law having its own internal Faculty
Jurisdiction instead.
The Church of England is the only body in England which can conduct
marriages without the presence of a registrar.
The Church of England has its own system of courts which are part of
the national legal system. Consistory Courts, Court of the Arches and
the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved.
The Church of England can make its own legislation. Ecclesiastical
Measures have the same standing as Acts of Parliament. The C of E has
a limited form of taxation in the form of Chancel Repair Levy (see the
Case of Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Aston Cantlow and
Wilmcote with Billesley, Warwickshire (Appellants) v Wallbank and
another (Respondents) (2003) HL.
The only other "established" church in the UK, the Church of Scotland
has much more limited legal powers.
--
Alasdair. |