Ecclesiastical court


In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Historically, they interpret or apply canon law. One of its primary bases was the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian, which is also considered the source of the civil law legal tradition.
In the United Kingdom, secular courts that took over the functions of the ecclesiastic courts, e.g. in family law, are still known as courts ecclesiastical as distinct from courts temporal.

Medieval courts

In the Middle Ages, ecclesiastical courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than they did after the development of nation states. They held jurisdiction over not only religious matters, but also family law, equitable relief, probate, and cases involving priests, religious communities, or public heretics.
Secular courts in medieval times were numerous and decentralized: each secular division could have their own courts, customary law, bailiffs and gaols with arbitrary and unrecorded procedures, including in Northern Europe trial by combat and trial by ordeal, and in England trial by jury.
Ecclesiastical courts generally followed the better regulated inquisition, accusation or denunciation judicial procedures. In medieval times, they had a very wide jurisdiction including family law and dowry disputes, probate, equity, defamation, failure to observe holy days, and cases involving priests and religious communities and individuals or public heretics.

Anglicanism

Church of England

In the Church of England, the ecclesiastical courts are a system of courts, held by authority of the Crown, who is ex officio the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The courts have jurisdiction over matters dealing with the rights and obligations of church members, since the 19th century limited to controversies in areas of church property and ecclesiastical disciplinary proceedings. In England these courts, unlike common law courts, are based upon and operate along civil law procedures and Canon law-based jurisprudence.
The ecclesiastical courts formerly had jurisdiction over the personal estates of deceased persons to grant probate or administration. This jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts was transferred to the Court of Probate by the Court of Probate Act 1857.
Offences against ecclesiastical laws are dealt with differently based on whether the laws in question involve church doctrine. For non-doctrinal cases, the lowest level of the court is the Archdeaconry Court, which is presided over by the local archdeacon. The next court in the hierarchy is the bishop's court, which is in the Diocese of Canterbury called the Commissary Court and in other dioceses the consistory court. The Commissary Court is presided over by a commissary-general; a consistory Court is presided over by a chancellor. The chancellor or commissary-general must be thirty years old and either have a seven-year general qualification under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 section 71 or have held high judicial office.
Specialist courts in the Province of Canterbury are the Court of Faculties, the Court of Peculiars and the Court of the Vicar-General of the Province of Canterbury. In the northern province there is the Court of the Vicar-General of the Province of York.
The next court is the archbishop's court, which is in Canterbury called the Arches Court, and in York the Chancery Court. Each court includes five judges; one judge is common to both courts. The common judge is called the Dean of Arches in Canterbury and the Auditor in York; he or she is appointed jointly by both archbishops with the approval of the Crown, and must either hold a ten-year High Court qualification under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, s 71, or have held high judicial office. Two members of each court must be clergy appointed by the Prolocutor of the Lower House of the provincial convocation. Two further members of each court are appointed by the Chairman of the House of Laity of the General Synod; these must possess such legal qualifications as the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain requires.
In cases involving church doctrine, ceremony or ritual, the aforementioned courts have no jurisdiction. Instead, the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved hears the case. The Court is composed of three diocesan bishops and two appellate judges; it has jurisdiction over both of the provinces of Canterbury and York. The Court, however, meets very rarely.
Appeal from the Arches Court and Chancery Court lies to the King-in-Council. In practice, the case is heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which includes present and former Lords Chancellor, a number of Lords of Appeal and other high judicial officers. The King-in-Council does not have jurisdiction over doctrinal cases from the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved, which instead go to an ad hoc Commission of Review, composed of two diocesan bishops and three Lords of Appeal.
The operation of such courts was not without cost. For instance, in 1843, the gross fees, salaries, emoluments of the judges, deputy-judges, registrars, deputy-registrars, and all other officers in the ecclesiastical courts of England, Wales and Ireland, amounted to £120,513, of which £101,171 was the figure for England.
Commissions of Convocation were appointed by the Upper House of the Convocation of Canterbury or of York to try a bishop for an offence. Both Convocations make the appointment if an archbishop is prosecuted. This would comprise four diocesan bishops and the Dean of the Arches. They were discontinued by the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.
The Ecclesiastical Courts Acts 1787 to 1860 is the collective title of the following Acts:
  • The Ecclesiastical Suits Act 1787 – repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1948,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1813 – repealed by Statute Law Act 1971,
  • The Proctors Act 1814 – repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1954,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1829 – repealed by Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963,
  • The Privy Council Appeals Act 1832 – repealed by Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1832 – repealed by Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1840 – repealed by Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1844 – repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1959,
  • The Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1847 – repealed by Church of England Measure 1992,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1854 – repealed by Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1855 – repealed by Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963,
  • The Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1858 – repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1950,
  • The Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860 – amended.

    Guernsey

The Ecclesiastical Court in Guernsey predates its first written evidence from the 13th Century. Its powers have been reduced over the centuries but it still meets weekly to prove wills and to grant marriage licences.

Episcopal Church in the United States of America

Ecclesiastical courts in the American Episcopal Church have jurisdiction only over disciplinary cases involving clergy and are divided into two separate systems: one for trials of bishops and the other for trials of priests and deacons. In each disciplinary case, two courts are provided, one for trials and one for appeals. When a charge is first made, it is brought before an initial review committee whose job is to determine when a case should be brought and to supervise the Church Attorney who acts as a sort of prosecutor.
Courts and procedure for trials of bishops are provided for by the Canons of the General Convention. There is one Court for the Trial of a bishop, composed of nine bishops. Appeals are heard by the Court of Review for the Trial of a bishop, also comprising nine bishops. The Constitution of the national Episcopal Church provides that this court must be composed only of bishops.
For priests and deacons, initial trial is held by an ecclesiastical court established by the diocese in which the cleric is canonically resident. Appeals are taken to the Court of Review for the Trial of a Priest or Deacon, one of which is established in each of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church. Dioceses have some discretion about the procedure and membership for the ecclesiastical court, but most rules and procedure are established church-wide by the national canons. Trial courts are made up of lay persons and of priests or deacons, with the clergy to have a majority by one. The various courts of review comprise one bishop, three priests or deacons, and three lay persons.
Since the 18th century the Constitution of the national Episcopal Church has permitted the creation of a national Court of Appeal, which would be "solely for the review of the determination of any Court of Review on questions of Doctrine, Faith, or Worship". No such court has ever been created, though proposals have occasionally been made to establish the House of Bishops itself as such a court.

Anglican Church in North America

Trials of clergy within the Anglican Church in North America take place according to canons of individual dioceses, while trials of bishops are conducted by a seven-member Court for the Trial of a Bishop, comprising three bishops, two priests and two confirmed adult members. Cases are referred to the court by a board of inquiry appointed by the archbishop. The board decides whether a presentment, which must be signed by at least three diocesan bishops or by a sufficient number of clergy and laity from within the accused bishop's diocese, offers probable cause to present the bishop for trial.
Unlike disciplinary hearings of the Episcopal Church, the court's proceedings may be held virtually and may be closed to the public and to media. The ACNA canons establish an adversarial system in which a prosecutor represents the province and the accused may obtain representation. A majority of the court members is required for a verdict to be reached on a charge. A bishop found guilty may appeal to the seven-member Provincial Tribunal. As of 2025, the court has heard two cases, one involving Todd Atkinson and the ongoing ecclesiastical trial of Stewart Ruch.