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Human Sexuality and the Church of Scotland: Aitken et al v Presbytery of Aberdeen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2009

Frank Cranmer
Frank Cranmer
Affiliation:
Fellow, St Chad's College, Durham Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff Law School
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Extract

Although much of the business of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland relates to legislation and debates of reports from committees, unlike the synods of episcopal churches the General Assembly is also a court, with exclusive jurisdiction in ‘matters spiritual’. However, under the terms of Act III 2001, as amended, disciplinary matters are investigated by a Presbyterial Commission and, in disputed cases, ultimately come before the Assembly's Judicial Commission. Cases before the General Assembly were once quite common; but for the 2009 Assembly to find themselves hearing a judicial dispute was very unusual indeed.

Type
Comment
Information
Ecclesiastical Law Journal , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 334 - 339
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical Law Society 2009

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References

1 Anent Discipline of Ministers, Licentiates, Graduate Candidates and Deacons.

2 The text of the Dissent and Complaint, the Answers of the Presbytery of Aberdeen and the subsequent Report of the Legal Questions Committee (as required by s 5(d) of Act VI 1997 (Anent the Commission of Assembly) as amended) are set out in the Order of Proceedings of the General Assembly 2009, available at <http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/generalassembly/downloads/ga09oop.pdf>, accessed 24 May 2009, pp 37–64.

3 Had it been a disciplinary matter, it would have gone for investigation to a Presbyterial Commission under Act III 2001, as amended, and ultimately have come before the Judicial Commission.

4 Pursuant to s 5(d)(i) of Act VI 1997 (Anent the Commission of Assembly), as amended. The Commission is a much smaller body, which, in effect, acts under delegated powers between the annual General Assembly meetings.

5 Order of Proceedings of the General Assembly 2009, p 35.

6 The Notice of Motion by which a presbytery brings a matter before the General Assembly.

7 Order of Proceedings of the General Assembly 2009, p 65.

8 Ibid, p 37, para 3.

9 Ibid, para 7.

10 The Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland in Matters Spiritual are available at <http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/extranet/xchurchlaw/xchurchlawarticles.htm>, accessed 4 June 2009.

11 Order of Proceedings of the General Assembly 2009, p 40, para 4.

12 Ibid, p 40, para 7.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid, p 41, para 8.

15 Ibid.

16 <http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/generalassembly/downloads/gaupdates08sateve.txt>, accessed 15 June 2009.

17 In Parliamentary parlance, a Resolution.

18 Minutes of the Proceedings of the General Assembly, Wednesday 27 May 2009, pp 97–98.

19 Ibid, p 98.

20 <http://www.forwardtogether.org.uk/generalassembly2009.htm>, accessed 15 June 2009.