(1) Upon a finding by a disciplinary tribunal or the Vicar-General's court in disciplinary proceedings that the respondent committed the misconduct complained of, the tribunal or court may —
(a) impose on the respondent any one or more of the penalties mentioned in section 24 below; or
(b) defer consideration of the penalty, and for that purpose may adjourn the proceedings; or
(c) impose no penalty.
(2) Before imposing a penalty the disciplinary tribunal or court may invite —
(a) in the case of a disciplinary tribunal, the bishop of the diocese concerned, or
(b) in the case of the Vicar-General's court, the archbishop concerned or, if the respondent is an archbishop, the other archbishop,
to express in writing his views as to the appropriate penalty and the tribunal or court shall have regard to any such views in imposing the penalty, if any and the views of the bishop or archbishop, as the case may be, shall be conveyed in writing to the respondent:.
Provided that, if the bishop or archbishop has given evidence in the proceedings, he shall not be consulted.
(3) In this section any reference to a penalty includes a reference to an order for conditional discharge under section 25 below.
(1) In disciplinary proceedings under this Measure –
(a) the respondent may appeal against any penalty imposed on him, and
(b) the respondent on a question of law or fact, and the [appointed person or designated officer], on a question of law, may appeal against any finding of the disciplinary tribunal or the Vicar-General's court, to the Arches Court of Canterbury (where the proceedings take place in the province of Canterbury) or the Chancery Court of York (where the proceedings take place in the province of York).
(2) Proceedings on an appeal under subsection (1) above shall be heard and disposed of by all the judges of the court mentioned in section 3(2)(a), (b) and (c) of the 1963 Measure.
NOTE: s.20: subs.(1): words in square brackets substituted by Clergy Discipline Measure (Isle of Man) 2005.
[(1) It shall be the duty of the standing committee of the diocesan synod to compile and maintain for the diocese, in accordance with subsection (2) below, a list (hereinafter referred to as "the diocesan panel") of persons available for appointment under the following provisions of this Measure as members of a disciplinary tribunal.
(2) The diocesan panel shall consist of —
(a) 6 lay persons appointed by the standing committee, being persons who are resident in the diocese and on the electoral roll of a parish in the diocese; and
(b) 6 persons in Holy Orders appointed by the standing committee, being persons who have served in Holy Orders for at least 7 years and are resident in the diocese.
(3) No person who is not an actual communicant, within the meaning of rule 54(1) of the Church Representation Rules, shall be appointed to serve on the diocesan panel.
(4) Subject to subsections (5) to (7), unless he sooner resigns by notice in writing to the bishop, a person appointed to serve on the diocesan panel shall so serve for a period of 6 years, and on the expiry of that term shall, if otherwise qualified, be eligible to be re-appointed.
(5) Of the persons appointed to serve on the diocesan panel on the first occasion after the extension of this Measure to the Isle of Man, half of those appointed under subsection (2)(a) and half of those appointed under subsection (2)(b) shall serve for a period of 3 years, those so to serve being determined by lot.
(6) A person appointed to fill a casual vacancy on the diocesan panel shall serve for the unexpired term of service of the person in whose place he was appointed.
(7) Where the period of service of a person appointed to serve on the diocesan panel expires while he is a member of a disciplinary tribunal to which proceedings under this Measure are referred, he shall continue to be a member of the tribunal until the completion of the proceedings.]
NOTE: s.20A added by Clergy Discipline Measure (Isle of Man) 2005.
(1) It shall be the duty of the Clergy Discipline Commission to compile and maintain for each province, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) below, a list (hereinafter referred to as "the provincial panel") of persons available for appointment under the following provisions of this Measure as members of a disciplinary tribunal or of the Vicar-General's court.
(2) Each provincial panel shall contain the names of —
(a) two lay persons from each diocese nominated by the bishop of the diocese after consultation with the bishop's council, being persons who are resident in the diocese and are on the electoral roll of a parish in the diocese or on the community roll of a cathedral which is not a parish church;
(b) two persons in Holy Orders from each diocese nominated by the bishop of the diocese after consultation with the bishop's council, being persons who have served in Holy Orders for at least seven years and are resident in the diocese;
(c) ten persons nominated by the archbishop of the relevant province, being persons who have a seven year general qualification within the meaning of section 71 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 or who have held or are holding high judicial office or the office of Circuit judge;
(d) such persons as may be nominated under subsection (3) below.
(3) The archbishop of the relevant province may also nominate for inclusion on the provincial panel —
(a) not more than five persons who are resident in the province and are on the electoral roll of a parish in the province or on the community roll of a cathedral which is not a parish church; and
(b) not more than five persons who have served in Holy Orders for at least seven years and reside in the province.
(4) No person who is not an actual communicant, within the meaning of rule 54(1) of the Church Representation Rules, shall be nominated to serve on the provincial panel.
(5) Persons nominated to serve on the provincial panel shall so serve for a period of six years, and on retiring from the panel shall be eligible to be nominated to serve for not more than one further period of six years:
Provided that, of the persons nominated to serve on the provincial panel on the first occasion after the passing of this Measure, half of those nominated under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above, half of those nominated under paragraph (b), half of those nominated under paragraph (c) and half of those nominated under subsection (3) above shall retire from the panel after serving for a period of three years, those retiring being determined by lot.
(6) Where the period of service of a person nominated to serve on the provincial panel expires while he is a member of a disciplinary tribunal or of the Vicar-General's court to which proceedings under this Measure are referred, he shall continue to be a member of the tribunal or court until the completion of the proceedings.
(7) Where a casual vacancy occurs on the provincial panel the Archbishop of the relevant province or the bishop of the relevant diocese, as the case may be, may nominate a person to fill the vacancy, and the provisions of subsections (2) and (4) above, relating to qualifications and consultations shall apply for the purposes of this subsection as they applied for the purposes of the nomination of the person whose place he takes on the panel.
(8) Any person nominated to fill a casual vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term of service of the person whose place he takes on the panel.
[(9) In its application to the diocese of Sodor and Man the reference in subsection (2)(a) and (b) above to the bishop's council shall be construed as a reference to the standing committee of the diocesan synod.]
NOTE: s.21: subs.(9) added by Clergy Discipline Measure (Isle of Man) 2005.
[(1) Subject to subsection (1A), a disciplinary tribunal shall consist of –
(a) the chairman, who shall be the chancellor of the diocese;
(b) one lay person appointed by the chancellor from those nominated under section 20A(2)(a) above;
(c) one lay person appointed by the chancellor from those nominated under section 21(2)(a) or (3)(a) above;
(d) one person in Holy Orders appointed by the chancellor from those nominated under section 20A(2)(b) above;
(e) one person in Holy Orders appointed by the chancellor from those nominated under section 21(2)(b) or (3)(b) above.
(1A) If it appears to the chancellor that there is no person nominated under section 20A(2)(a) or (b) above, as the case may be, who is suitable to be appointed a member of the tribunal under subsection (1)(b) or (d) above, he may instead appoint a member from those nominated under section 21(2)(a) or (3)(a) above, or section 21(2)(b) or (3)(b) above, as the case may be, to serve on the relevant provincial panel.]
(2) The [chancellor] shall not appoint any person to be a member of a disciplinary tribunal unless he is satisfied that there is no reason to question the impartiality of that person, and before doing so he shall afford an opportunity to the respondent to make representations as to the suitability of that person to be appointed.
NOTE: s.22: subs.(1) substituted, and subs.(1A) added, by Clergy Discipline Measure (Isle of Man) 2005; subs.(2): word in square brackets substituted by ibid.
(1) The Vicar-General's court, when exercising its jurisdiction in disciplinary proceedings under this Measure against a bishop, shall consist of five members as follows —
(a) the chairman, who shall be the Vicar-General of the relevant province unless he declares himself to be personally acquainted with the complainant or the respondent, in which case the president of tribunals shall appoint a person to be the chairman from those nominated under section 21(2)(c) above to serve on the relevant provincial panel of the province other than that in which the bishop serves;
(b) two persons in Holy Orders (one of whom shall be in Episcopal Orders) appointed by the president of tribunals;
(c) two lay persons appointed by the president of tribunals from among those nominated under section 21(2)(a) or (3)(a) above to serve on the provincial panel of the province other than that in which the bishop serves.
(2) The Vicar-General's court, when exercising its jurisdiction in disciplinary proceedings under this Measure against an archbishop of a province, shall consist of five members as follows —
(a) the chairman, who shall be the Vicar-General of the other province unless he declares himself to be personally acquainted with the complainant or the respondent, in which case the president of tribunals shall appoint a person to be chairman from those nominated under section 21(2)(c) above to serve on the provincial panel of the other province;
(b) two persons in Holy Orders (one of whom shall be in Episcopal Orders) appointed by the president of tribunals;
(c) two lay persons appointed by the president of tribunals from among those nominated under section 21(2)(a) or 3(a) above to serve on the provincial panel of the other province.
(3) The president of tribunals shall not appoint any person to be a member of the Vicar-General's court of a province unless he is satisfied that there is no reason to question the impartiality of that person, and before doing so he shall afford an opportunity to the respondent to make representations as to the suitability of that person to be appointed.
(1) One or more of the following penalties may be imposed on a respondent upon a finding that he has committed any misconduct, namely —
(a) prohibition for life, that is to say prohibition without limit of time from exercising any of the functions of his Orders;
(b) limited prohibition, that is to say prohibition for a specific time from exercising any of the functions of his Orders;
(c) removal from office, that is to say, removal from any preferment which he then holds;
(d) in the case of a minister licensed to serve in a diocese by the bishop thereof, revocation of the licence;
(e) injunction, that is to say, an order to do or to refrain from doing a specified act;
(f) rebuke.
(2) No penalty of removal from office imposed on an archbishop or bishop or on any person holding any preferment the right to appoint to which is vested in Her Majesty (not being a parochial benefice) shall have effect unless and until Her Majesty by Order in Council confirms the penalty.
(1) Where, upon a finding that the respondent has committed any misconduct, the disciplinary tribunal or Vicar-General's court, as the case may be, is of opinion, having regard to the circumstances including the nature of the misconduct and the character of the respondent, that it is inexpedient to impose a penalty it may make an order discharging him subject to the condition that he commits no misconduct during such period not exceeding two years from the date of the order as may be specified in the order.
(2) Before making an order under subsection (1) above the tribunal or court shall explain to the respondent in ordinary language that if he commits further misconduct during the period specified in the order a penalty may be imposed for the original misconduct.
(3) Where, under subsection (4) below, a penalty is imposed on a person conditionally discharged under subsection (1) above for the misconduct in respect of which the order for conditional discharge was made, that order shall cease to have effect.
(4) If a person in whose case an order has been made under subsection (1) above is found, in disciplinary proceedings under this Measure, to have committed misconduct during the period specified in the order, the disciplinary tribunal or the Vicar-General's court, as the case may be, may deal with him for the misconduct for which the order was made in any manner in which it could deal with him if it had just found that he had committed that misconduct.
(1) Where by virtue of anything done under this Measure or the 1963 Measure a priest or deacon is prohibited for life or deposed he may make an application to the archbishop concerned for the prohibition or deposition to be nullified on the grounds —
(a) that new evidence has come to light affecting the facts on which the prohibition or deposition was based; or
(b) that the proper legal procedure leading to the prohibition or deposition was not followed.
(2) If the archbishop, on an application made in accordance with subsection (1) above, considers that the prohibition or deposition was not justified he may, after consultation with the Dean of the Arches and Auditor, declare that the prohibition or deposition be nullified, whereupon it shall be treated for all purposes in law as never having been imposed.
(3) This section shall apply to archbishops and bishops who are prohibited for life or deposed as it applies to priests and deacons who are prohibited for life or deposed, with the following adaptations —
(a) in the case of an archbishop, the references to the archbishop concerned shall be read as references to the Dean of the Arches and Auditor and the reference to consultation with him shall be omitted;
(b) in the case of a bishop, the references to the archbishop concerned shall be read as references to the archbishop of the other province.
Where by virtue of anything done under this Measure or the 1963 Measure an archbishop, bishop, priest or deacon is prohibited from exercising functions for a specific time he and the archbishop or bishop of the province or diocese concerned (or his successor in office) acting jointly may make an application to the Dean of the Arches and Auditor sitting with the two Vicars-General for the removal of the prohibition; and on receiving such an application they may make an order removing the prohibition, whereupon he shall be eligible for any preferment.
Where by virtue of anything done under this Measure an archbishop, bishop, priest or deacon is prohibited from exercising functions or removed from office his incapacities shall cease if he receives a free pardon from the Crown and he shall be restored to any preferment he previously held if it has not in the meantime been filled.
Any person (including a person deposed from Holy Orders under the 1963 Measure) who performs in the Church of England any function which, under a penalty imposed on him under this Measure or a censure imposed on him under the 1963 Measure, he is not permitted to perform commits an act of misconduct under this Measure and, in the case of a person deposed from Holy Orders, disciplinary proceedings under this Measure may be instituted against him in respect of the misconduct as if he had not been deposed.
(1) If a person who is a priest or deacon —
(a) is convicted (whether in [the Isle of Man] or elsewhere) of an offence and a sentence of [custody or] imprisonment (including one which is not implemented immediately) is passed on him, or
(b) has a [divorce order, decree of divorce] or an order of separation made against him following a finding of adultery, behaviour in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent or desertion and, in the case of divorce, [the order has been made final or] the decree has been made absolute,
he shall be liable without further proceedings to a penalty of removal from office or prohibition (whether for life or limited) or both.
(2) Where a person is liable to a penalty of removal from office or prohibition or both by virtue of subsection (1) above and the bishop of the relevant diocese proposes to impose such a penalty, he shall, after consultation with the president of tribunals, inform that person in writing of the proposal, together with an invitation to send representations in writing to the bishop within the period of twenty-eight days.
On the expiry of that period the bishop shall decide whether or not to impose the penalty and shall inform that person in writing of the decision. If the decision is to impose the penalty, that person may request the archbishop of the relevant province to review the decision and upon such a review the archbishop may uphold or reverse the decision after consideration of all the circumstances, including any representations made under this subsection.
(3) A penalty shall not be imposed under this section after the expiry of the period of two years beginning with the date on which the sentence becomes conclusive or, as the case may be, the decree absolute or order is made.
(4) Where a penalty is to be imposed under this section, it shall be imposed by the bishop of the relevant diocese, and before imposing it the bishop shall require the registrar of his diocese to give (if it is practicable to do so) not less than fourteen days notice in writing to the priest or deacon concerned of the time and place at which the penalty will be imposed and if the priest or deacon appears at that time and place he shall be entitled to be present when the penalty is imposed.
(5) When imposing a penalty under this section the bishop shall be attended by the registrar of his diocese. The penalty shall be reduced to writing and a copy thereof shall be sent to the archbishop of the province concerned and to the registrar of the diocese concerned.
(6) The functions exercisable under this section by an archbishop shall, during the absence abroad or incapacity through illness of the archbishop or a vacancy in the see, be exercised by the other archbishop.
(7) In this section "relevant diocese" means —
(a) the diocese in which the priest or deacon, in relation to whom a penalty may be imposed under this section, holds preferment at the date on which the sentence which justifies the imposition of the penalty becomes conclusive; or
(b) if at that date he is not holding preferment, but is residing in a diocese, the diocese in which he is residing at that date; or (c) if at that date he neither holds preferment nor resides in a diocese, the diocese in which he last held preferment before that date or, in the case of a priest or deacon who has not held preferment in any diocese, the diocese in which he was ordained.
NOTE: s.30: subss.(1) & (2): words in square brackets added or substituted by Clergy Discipline Measure (Isle of Man) 2005.
(1) If a person who is a bishop or archbishop —
(a) is convicted (whether in [the Isle of Man] or elsewhere) of an offence and such a sentence as is mentioned in section 30(1) above is passed on him, or
(b) has a [decree of divorce, divorce order] or an order of separation made against him following a finding of adultery, behaviour in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent or desertion and, in the case of divorce, [the order has been made final or] the decree has been made absolute, he shall be liable without further proceedings to a penalty of removal from office or prohibition (whether for life or limited) or both.
(2) Where a person is liable to a penalty of removal from office or prohibition or both by virtue of subsection (1) above and the archbishop concerned proposes to impose such a penalty, he shall, after consultation with the president of tribunals, inform that person in writing of that proposal, together with an invitation to send representations in writing to the archbishop within the period of twenty-eight days.
On the expiry of that period the archbishop shall decide whether or not to impose the penalty and shall inform that person in writing of the decision. If the decision is to impose a penalty, that person may —
(a) if he is a bishop, request the other archbishop, or
(b) if he is an archbishop, request the president of tribunals,
to review the decision and upon such a review the archbishop or the president of tribunals, as the case may be, may uphold or reverse the decision after consideration of all the circumstances, including any representations made under this subsection.
(3) A penalty shall not be imposed under this section after the expiry of the period of two years beginning with the date on which the sentence becomes conclusive or, as the case may be, the decree absolute or order is made.
(4) Where a penalty is to be imposed under this section it shall be imposed —
(a) in the case of a person who is a bishop, by the archbishop of the relevant province after consultation with the two senior diocesan bishops of the province, and
(b) in the case of a person who is an archbishop, by the other archbishop after consultation as aforesaid.
(5) When imposing a penalty under this section the archbishop shall be attended by the registrar of his province. The penalty shall be reduced to writing and a copy thereof shall be recorded in the registry of the province concerned and sent to the archbishop concerned.
(6) The functions exercisable under this section by the archbishop of the relevant province shall, during the absence abroad or incapacity through illness of the archbishop or a vacancy in the see, be exercisable by the other archbishop.
(7) In this section "bishop" means any diocesan bishop, any suffragan bishop and any other bishop.
NOTE: s.31: subs.(1): words in square brackets added or substituted by Clergy Discipline Measure (Isle of Man) 2005.
Where a penalty of removal from office or prohibition is imposed on any person pursuant to the provisions of section 30 or 31 above the penalty shall have effect subject to the provisions of sections 24 to 29 above, and the like consequences shall ensue in all respects as if such person had been found to have committed misconduct under this Measure and such a penalty had been imposed on him.
(1) A person in Holy Orders who (whether in [the Isle of Man] or elsewhere) is convicted of an offence or is arrested on suspicion of committing an offence shall be under a duty, within the period of twenty-eight days following the conviction or arrest, —
(a) in the case of a priest or deacon, to inform the bishop of the diocese concerned,
(b) in the case of a bishop, to inform the archbishop concerned, and
(c) in the case of an archbishop, to inform the other archbishop,
of the conviction or arrest.
(2) Failure to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) above shall be regarded as a failure to do an act required by the laws ecclesiastical for the purposes of section 8(1) above.
NOTE: s.33: subss.(1): words in square brackets substituted by Clergy Discipline Measure (Isle of Man) 2005.