The Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved is an appellate court within the hierarchy of ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England. Hearing cases involving church doctrine, ceremony, or ritual, the court has jurisdiction over both the Province of Canterbury and the Province of York. Appeals from the court are heard in a Commission of Review.[1]
The Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved was created in 1963 with appellate jurisdiction in matters of doctrine, ritual or ceremonial.
Complaints against priests or deacons may be vetoed by their bishop and those against a bishop by the appropriate archbishop. Before a case is heard, a preliminary enquiry by a committee decides whether there is a case to answer. In the case of a priest or deacon, the Committee of Inquiry consists of the diocesan bishop, two members of the Lower House of Convocation of the province, and two diocesan chancellors. There are other provisions where the accused is a bishop.
If the committee allows the case to proceed, the Upper House of Convocation appoints a complainant against the accused in the Court for Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved, where the procedure resembles that of an assize court exercising jurisdiction but without a jury. However, the court sits with five advisers chosen from panels of theologians or liturgiologists.
As of 2012, the court has sat in only two cases:[2]
The first case dealt with the introduction of an icon and candlestick into a church without a faculty (exemption from the usual practice) being granted beforehand. The second case allowed the use of a marble sculpture by Henry Moore as an altar table.[5]
The court's five judges are appointed by the Sovereign. Two must be judges (or have held high judicial office), and must also be communicant members of the Church of England; the remaining three must be (or have been) diocesan bishops.
In criminal cases there must be not be fewer than three nor more than five advisers, who are selected by the Dean of the Arches and Auditor from a panel of eminent theologians and liturgiologists.
The following were appointed to the court by royal warrant under the royal sign manual for a five-year term beginning on 1 December 2021:
| Sir Anthony John Leslie Lloyd | 23 October 1984 | ||||
| Sir Hugh Harry Valentine Forbes | 23 October 1984 | ||||
| Richard Harries | 23 October 1984 | ||||
| Richard David Say | 23 October 1984 | ||||
| Kenneth John Woollcombe | Former Lord Bishop of Oxford | 23 October 1984 | |||
| Sir Ralph Brian Gibson | 10 June 1986 | 1 February 1992 | |||
| Eric Waldram Kemp | Lord Bishop of Chichester | 23 October 1984 | 1 February 1992 | ||
| Sir Anthony John Leslie Lloyd | 1 February 1992 | ||||
| Archibald Ronald McDonald Gordon | Lord Bishop of Portsmouth | 1 February 1992 | |||
| Andrew Alexander Kenny Graham | Lord Bishop of Newcastle | 1 February 1992 | |||
| The Baroness Butler-Sloss | Former President of the Family Division | 1 July 2006 | |||
| The Lord Harries of Pentregarth | Former Lord Bishop of Oxford | 1 July 2006 | |||
| Sir John Frank Mummery | Lord Justice of Appeal | 1 July 2006 | |||
| The Lord Hope of Thornes | Former Archbishop of York | 1 July 2006 | |||
| Nicholas Thomas Wright | Lord Bishop of Durham | 1 July 2006 | |||
| Christopher John Cocksworth | Lord Bishop of Coventry | 1 July 2015 | |||
| Sir Christopher Simon Courtenay Stephenson Clarke | Justice of the High Court of Justice | 1 July 2015 | |||
| Lord Hughes of Ombersley | Justice of the Supreme Court | 1 July 2015 | |||
| David Stuart Walker | Lord Bishop of Manchester | 1 July 2015 | |||
| Martin Clive Warner | Lord Bishop of Chichester | 1 July 2015 |