The Arches Court or Court of Arches, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an

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 ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

covering 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 ...

. Its equivalent in the

Province of York The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 14 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to ...

is the

Chancery Court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of eq ...

. It takes its name from the street-level arched windows of the old crypt of

St Mary-le-Bow The Church of St Mary-le-Bow () is a Church of England parish church in the City of London, England. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080, by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebuilt s ...

(''Sancta Maria de Arcubus'') where the court still sits.

Provincial court

The Court of Arches is the provincial Court of Appeal for Canterbury. It has both

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

and

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems, original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

. It is presided over by the Dean of the Arches, who is styled ''The Right Honourable and Right Worshipful the Official Principal and Dean of the Arches''. The dean must be a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

of ten years' High Court standing or the holder or former holder of high judicial office. The appointment is made by the two archbishops jointly. At various times the court has sat in the church of

(''Sancta Maria de arcubus,'' formerly the archbishop's principal peculiar in London), whose arches give the court its name. The court used to sit in a large room over the north aisle of the 11th-century crypt adjoining Bow Lane. The room was later rebuilt on an even larger scale, and eventually came to be used as the vestry. After the Great Fire it was held in

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law (legal system), civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawye ...

and also at 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster and

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

. Its permanent home remains St Mary le Bow, where regular sittings include those to confirm the election of each new diocesan bishop in the province. The Provincial Registry is at 16 Beaumont Street, Oxford. The proper jurisdiction of the court is over only the 13 peculiar parishes belonging to the archbishop in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. But, as the office of Dean of the Arches is united with that of Principal Official, the dean receives and determines appeals from the sentences of all lesser ecclesiastical courts within the province. Many original suits are also heard, where lesser courts waive jurisdiction by letters of request. Appeal lies with the Privy Council, except on matters of doctrine, ritual or ceremony, which go to the Court for Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved. There may also be a Deputy Dean. The court normally consists of the dean, two clerks appointed by the prolocutor of the lower house of the appropriate convocation and two lay people appointed by the Chairman of the House of Laity in consultation with the Lord Chancellor. Such appointees will have had judicial experience and be diocesan chancellors. Since 1991 there have been two diocesan chancellors appointed by the dean. All these are assistant provincial court judges. Original jurisdiction was formerly exercised by a separate provincial court, known as the Court of Audience.

History

The jurisdictions called "peculiars" at one time numbered nearly three hundred in England. They were originally introduced by the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

for the purpose of curtailing a bishop's authority within his

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. The dean of the Arches originally had jurisdiction over the thirteen London parishes mentioned above, but as the official principal was often absent as ambassador on the continent, the dean became his substitute, and gradually the two offices were blended together. The judge of the Arches court was until 1874 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 ...

for the life of the holder. But by the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 the two archbishops were empowered to appoint a practising barrister or judge as described above. The official principal of the Arches court is the only ecclesiastical judge who is empowered to pass a sentence of deprivation against a clerk in

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

. The appeals from the decisions of the Arches court were formerly made to the king in chancery, but they are now by statute addressed to the king in council, and they are heard before the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

. By an act of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

(Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1532) the Arches court is empowered to hear, in the first instance, such suits as are sent up to it by letters of request from the consistory court of the bishops of the province of Canterbury, and it is further empowered to accept letters of request from the bishops of the province of Canterbury after they have issued commissions of inquiry under that statute, and the commissioners have made their report. The Arches court was also the court of appeal from the consistory courts (of the bishops of the province) in all testamentary and matrimonial causes. The matrimonial jurisdiction was transferred to the secular courts by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and testamentary jurisdiction by later statute.

Leadership

The Provincial Registrar of Canterbury is appointed by the archbishop, after consultation with the Standing Committee of the General Synod. There may be a deputy provincial registrar. The provincial registrar acts as legal advisor to the archbishop, the registrar of the provincial court and the joint registrar of the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

References

External links

Archives of the Court of Arches at Lambeth Palace Library
{{UBE, date=August 2024 Canon law of the Church of England Ecclesiastical courts

Provincial court

History

Leadership

Archives

See also

References

Further reading

External links