The Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 19) was an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

that abolished the temporal authority of the

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

within the

County Palatine of Durham The County Palatine of Durham was a jurisdiction in the North of England, within which the bishop of Durham had rights usually exclusive to the monarch. It developed from the Liberty of Durham, which emerged in the Anglo-Saxon period. The g ...

, placing the county under lay administration. Previously, since 1075, the so-called

prince-bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

s had substantial powers as

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

s "with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes". Section 2 of the act also disbanded the Court of the County of Durham, appointing the High Sheriff as judge of a regular county court. Doubts about the construction of this act led to the enactment of the Durham County Palatine Act 1858 ( 21 & 22 Vict. c. 45).

Repeal

In a report dated 28 October 1975, the

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

and the

Scottish Law Commission The Scottish Law Commission () is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal ...

said that the unrepealed residue of this act was spent because of the abolition of the

Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge The Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge was a court of chancery that exercised jurisdiction within the County Palatine of Durham (including the wapentake of Sadberge) until it was merged into the High Court in 1972. ...

. They recommended that the whole act be repealed.The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. Statute Law Revision: Seventh Report. Law Com 70. SLC 40. Cmnd 6303. Pages 5 and 33. The Act was repealed b
Part I
of Schedule 1 to the

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976 (c. 16) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The act implemented recommendations contained in the seventh report on statute la ...

Section 1 – The Palatine Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham to be separated from the Bishopric and vested in the Crown

The words from "and all forfeitures" to "in right of the same" in this section were repealed by section 9(2) of, and part I of th
third schedule
to, the Crown Estate Act 1961. The proviso to this section was repealed by section 56 of, and schedule 11 to, the

Courts Act 1971 The Courts Act 1971The citation of this act by this short title is authorised bsection 59(1)of this act. (c. 23) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and ...

. The repeal was consequential on the abolition of the

by section 41 of that act.

Section 2 – County court to cease

Section 2 of the act abolished the Court of the County of Durham and the office of the clerk of that court.

Section 7 – Extent of the words "County of Durham"

Section 7 of the act provide that: This definition is referred to in section 1 of the Durham County Palatine Act 1858 ( 21 & 22 Vict. c. 45).

Section 9 – Reservation of rights to the Bishopric

Section 9 of the act was repealed by section 9(2) of, and part I of th
third schedule
to, the Crown Estate Act 1961.

Notes

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Me ...

, :* The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 6 & 7 Will IV. 1836.

King's Printer The King's Printer (known as the Queen's Printer during the reign of a female monarch) is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers ...

. 1836. Pages 130 to 132. :* Hansard

External links

The Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836
from

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. {{Authority control United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1836 Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England History of County Durham