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The Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury is a regulatory body in
English law
English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...
, which also exercises some
adjudicatory functions. Its responsibilities include:
* the regulation of
notaries public;
* the issue of special
marriage licences (but not common marriage licences);
* the conferral of
Lambeth degrees.
The Faculty Office is presided over by the
Master of the Faculties, who is appointed by the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
subject to approval by the Crown. Its jurisdiction is exercised by the ''Court of Faculties'' and applies to
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
. The jurisdiction was conferred upon the Archbishop by the
Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (
25 Hen. 8. c. 21) as part of the
Reformation in England. This Act transferred to the Archbishop of Canterbury powers which had until then been exercised by the
Papal Legate to England. For this reason, they are sometimes called the "legatine powers". They are exercised by the Archbishop of Canterbury not only in the
Province of Canterbury
The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses).
Overview
The Province consi ...
but also in the
Province of York[
]
and the area covered by the
Church in Wales.
Notaries public in New Zealand and the State of Queensland, Australia are still appointed by the Faculty Office.
See also
*
Ecclesiastical law
Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
*
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. Histo ...
Further reading
*
*Chambers, D. S. (ed.) (1966) ''Faculty Office Registers, 1534-1549: a calendar of the first two registers of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Faculty Office''. Oxford
Notes
References
External links
Official website
Canon law of the Church of England
Ecclesiastical courts
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