Church Discipline Act 1840
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1840 c. 86 |
(3 & 4 Vict.) C A P. LXXXVI.
[7th August 1840]
WHEREAS the Manner of proceeding in Causes for the Correction of Clerks requires Amendment: be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That an Act passed in the First Year of the Reign of KingHenry the Seventh, intituledAn Act for Bishops to punish Priests and other Religious Men for dishonest Lives , shall be repealed.
II Definition of the Terms ‘Preferment,’ ‘Bishop,’ ‘Archbishop,’ and ‘Diocese.’
II. And be it enacted, That, unless it shall otherwise appear from the Context, the Term ‘Preferment,’ when used in this Act, shall be construed to comprehend every Deanery, Archdeaconry, Prebend, Canonry, Office of Minor Canon, Priest Vicar, or Vicar Choral in Holy Orders, and every Precentorship, Treasurership, Sub-Deanery, Chancellorship of the Church, and other Dignity and Office in any Cathedral or Collegiate Church, and every Mastership, Wardenship, and Fellowship in any Collegiate Church, and all Benefices with Cure of Souls, comprehending therein all Parishes, Perpetual Curacies, Donatives, endowed Public Chapels, Parochial Chapelries, and Chapelries or Districts belonging to or reputed to belong, or annexed or reputed to be annexed, to any Church or Chapel, and every Curacy, Lectureship, Readership, Chaplaincy, Office, or Place which requires the Discharge of any Spiritual Duty, and whether the same be or be not within any exempt or peculiar Jurisdiction; and the Word ‘Bishop,’ when used in this Act, shall be construed to comprehend ‘Archbishop,’ and the Word ‘Diocese,’ when used in this Act, shall be construed to comprehend all Places to which the Jurisdiction of any Bishop extends under and for the Purposes of an Act passed in the Second Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituled .
III Bishop may issue a Commission of Inquiry.
III. And be it enacted, That in every Case of any Clerk in Holy Orders of the United Church ofEngland and Ireland who may be charged with any Offence against the Laws Ecclesiastical, or concerning whom there may exist Scandal or evil Report as having offended against the said Laws, it shall be lawful for the Bishop of the Diocese within which the Offence is alleged or reported to have been committed, on the Application of any Party complaining thereof, or if he shall think fit of his own mere Motion, to issue a Commission under his Hand and Seal to Five Persons, of whom One shall be his Vicar General, or an Archdeacon or Rural Dean within the Diocese, for the Purpose of making Inquiry as to the Grounds of such Charge or Report: Provided always, that Notice of the Intentionto issue such Commission under the Hand of the Bishop, containing an Intimation of the Nature of the Offence, together with the Names, Addition, and Residence of the Party on whose Application or Motion such Commission shall be about to issue, shall be sent by the Bishop to the Party accused Fourteen Days at least before such Commission shall issue.
IV Proceedings of the Commissioners.
IV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners or any Three of them to examine upon Oath, or upon solemn Affirmation in Cases where an Affirmation or Declaration is allowed by Law instead of an Oath, which Oath or Affirmation or Declaration respectively shall be administered by them to all Witnesses who shall be tendered to them for Examination as well by any Party alleging the Truth of the Charge or Report as by the Party accused, and to all Witnesses whom they may deem it necessary to summon for the Purpose of fully prosecuting the Inquiry, and ascertaining whether there be sufficientprim facie Ground for instituting further Proceedings; and Notice of the Time when and Place where every such Meeting of the Commissioners shall be holden shall be given in Writing under the Hand of One of the said Commissioners to the Party accused Seven Days at least before the Meeting; and it shall be lawful for the Party accused, or his Agent, to attend the Proceedings of the Commission, and to examine any of the Witnesses; and all such preliminary Proceedings shall be public, unless, on the special Application of the Party accused, the Commissioners shall direct that the same or any Part thereof shall be private; and when such preliminary Proceedings whether public or private, shall have been closed, One of the said Commissioners shall, after due Consideration of the Depositions taken before them, openly and publicly declare the Opinion of the Majority of the Commissioners present at such Inquiry, whether there be or be not sufficient prim facie Ground for instituting further Proceedings.
V Report of the Commissioners.
V. And be it enacted, That the said Commissioners or any Three of them shall transmit to the Bishop under their Hands and Seals the Depositions of Witnesses taken before them, and also a Report of the Opinion of the Majority of the Commissioners present at such Inquiry whether or not there be sufficient prim facie Ground for instituting Proceedings against the Party accused; and such Report shall be filed in the Registry of the Diocese; and that if the Party accused shall hold any Preferment in any other Diocese or Dioceses, the Bishop to whom the Report shall be made shall transmit a Copy thereof, and of the Depositions, to the Bishop or Bishops of such other Diocese or Dioceses, and shall also, upon the Application of the Party accused, cause to be delivered to such Party a Copy of the said Report and of the Depositions, on Payment of a reasonable Sum for the same, not exceeding Two-pence for each Folio of Ninety Words.
VI Bishop may pronounce Sentence, by Consent, without further Proceedings.
VI. And be it enacted, That in all Cases where Proceedings shall have been commenced under this Act against any such Clerk it shall be lawful for the Bishop of any Diocese within which such Clerk may hold any Preferment, with the Consent of such Clerk and of the Party complaining, if any, first obtained in Writing, to pronounce, without any further Proceedings, such Sentence as the said Bishop shall think fit, not exceeding the Sentence which might be pronounced in due Course of Law; and all such Sentences shall be good and effectual in Law as if pronounced after a Hearing according to the Provisions of this Act, and may be enforced by the like Means.
VII Articles and Depositions to be filed.
VII. And be it enacted, That if the Commissioners shall report that there is sufficientprim facie Ground for instituting Proceedings, and if the Bishop of any Diocese within which the Party accused may hold any Preferment, or the Party complaining, shall thereupon think fit to proceed against the Party accused, Articles shall be drawn up, and, when approved...
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