The Bahamas District of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (Appellants) The Hon. Vernon J. Symonette M.P. Speaker of the House of Assembly (Respondents) Ormond Hilton Poitier (Appellants) The Methodist Church of The Bahamas and Others (Respondents)
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judge | Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead |
| Judgment Date | 26 July 2000 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [2000] UKPC J0711-1 |
| Court | Privy Council |
| Docket Number | Appeal No. 70 of 1998 |
| Date | 26 July 2000 |
and Others
and 7 Others
and 14 Others
[2000] UKPC J0711-1
Present at the hearing:-
Lord Bingham of Cornhill
Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead
Lord Hope of Craighead
Lord Clyde
Lord Hutton
Appeal No. 70 of 1998
Appeal No. 6 of 1999
Privy Council
[Delivered by Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead]
Ten years ago unhappy differences among the 6,000 members of the Methodist Church in the Bahamas came to a head. In the words of Chief Justice J.C. Gonsalves-Sabola, good men and women on both sides of the schism found themselves in irreconcilable disharmony. The issue which divided them was whether the Methodist Church in The Bahamas should be established as an independent church, rather than continue as a district of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas which was based overseas. The controversy was insoluble by internal effort. Some of those within the church took steps to promote legislation to achieve their objective. The Bill thus promoted was enacted as The Methodist Church of The Bahamas Act 1993 ("the 1993 Act"). The plaintiffs in these two sets of proceedings challenge the constitutional validity of this Act.
Methodism has a long history in the Bahamas. Its origins are to be found in a mission inaugurated in 1786 in the West Indies under the authority of John Wesley himself along with others and in work begun in Antigua. For present purposes it is sufficient to go back to 1967. At that time the Methodist Church comprised the church established in 1932 by an (English) Deed of Union, dated 20th September 1932, uniting three churches formerly known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church. In 1967, by virtue of the Methodist Church Ordinance 1967 (of Antigua) and a Deed of Church Order dated 18th May 1967, the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas was constituted and established as an autonomous body of Christian believers. For convenience their Lordships will refer to this church as "the Caribbean Church". The doctrinal standards of the Caribbean Church were the same as those of the Methodist Church (the parent church), as set out in the Deed of Union dated 20th September 1932.
The governing body of the Caribbean Church was its "Conference". The Conference had authority to make such arrangements and give such directions it thought fit for the arrangement, disposition and use of all buildings and land for the use of the Church or any of its local bodies. The Conference also had power to alter any of the provisions of the Deed of Church Order, save for those setting out the doctrinal standards and the procedure for uniting with other churches. The Caribbean Church was, under the Conference, divided ("ordered") into districts, which in turn comprised a number of circuits. The oversight of a district was vested in the chairman of the district in conjunction with the district synod.
The establishment in this way of an autonomous local church and conference was not a novel step within the Methodist Church. During the 20th century many autonomous Methodist Conferences were established throughout the world. This was encouraged as nations matured to independence. In 1996 there were 90 Methodist Conferences in the World Methodist Council in 120 countries.
Before 1968 The Bahamas District was a district of the Methodist Church (the parent church). In 1968 The Bahamas District acceded to the 1967 Deed of Church Order and became a district of the Caribbean Church. Thereafter its affairs were administered pursuant to the constitution of the Caribbean Church. The Bahamas District was later extended to embrace the Methodist Church in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
In 1982 The Bahamas Methodist Trust Corporation Act established The Bahamas Methodist Trust Corporation as a corporate body. The Act recited its background and purpose. Title to property to which The Bahamas District was beneficially entitled was vested in a United Kingdom company, the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Trust Association. It was desirable that title to this property should be vested in and administered on behalf of The Bahamas District by a body incorporated in The Bahamas. Section 3 provided that the newly-created corporation should consist of between five and ten members. These comprised the president and secretary of the Conference of the Caribbean Church, the chairman and secretary of The Bahamas District, and six persons appointed on behalf of The Bahamas District. Section 6 of the Act vested in the newly-created corporation all property in The Bahamas vested in or to which the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Trust Association or The Bahamas District "or local or ancillary bodies" were beneficially or otherwise entitled "excepting such as is vested in a legally constituted body of trustees". Section 8 provided that all property of The Bahamas Methodist Trust Corporation should be held by the corporation "for the use and benefit of The Bahamas District". The Bahamas District meant The Bahamas District of the Caribbean Church: see section 2.
The main action
On 3rd February 1993 the Methodist Church of The Bahamas Bill was introduced in the House of Assembly. On 17th February court proceedings were instituted by The Bahamas District, The Bahamas Methodist Trust Corporation and the Reverend Dr. Kenneth Huggins. Dr. Huggins was the chairman and general superintendent of The Bahamas District and a member and chairman of The Bahamas Methodist Trust Corporation. These proceedings challenged the constitutionality of the Bill. The defendants were the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Prime Minister, the President of the Senate, the Clerk of the two Houses, and the Attorney-General. Two other defendants, the Reverend Dr. Colin Archer and Mr. Reginald Eldon, both members of The Bahamas District, were added later at their own request.
In these proceedings the plaintiffs asserted that the Bill, if enacted, would contravene several of the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of The Bahamas. It would hinder members of the congregations which comprised The Bahamas District of the Caribbean Church in the enjoyment of their freedom of religion (article 22), their freedom of expression (article 23), and their freedom of peaceful assembly (article 24). It would discriminate against members of these congregations by affording them, by reason of their creed, different treatment from that afforded to those who no longer faithfully subscribed and conformed to the constitutional discipline of the Methodist Church (article 26). Additionally, and this is the complaint which subsequently acquired most prominence, it would infringe the protection from deprivation of property guaranteed by article 27. At a later stage the plaintiffs added a claim that the Bill was a private Bill which was introduced in the House of Assembly in breach of rule 15 of the Rules of the House. Accordingly, it was said, the passage of the Bill through Parliament contravened article 59(1) of the Constitution. It will be convenient to refer to these proceedings as "the main action".
The plaintiffs sought interlocutory relief. Clause 1(2) of the Bill provided that the Act should come into force on such date as the minister might appoint by notice in the Gazette. On 23rd February 1993 Hall J. granted an injunction restraining the Attorney-General from taking steps to appoint such a date by notice in the Gazette if both Houses passed the Bill and the Governor-General gave his assent. The injunction was for a limited period: until 1st July 1993. Efforts by the plaintiffs to obtain an extension of the injunction were unavailing. With minor amendments, immaterial for present purposes, the Bill was passed by both Houses. On 1st July 1993 the Bill received the Governor-General's assent, and the Act was brought into force on the following day, 2nd July 1993.
The constitutional challenge makes it necessary to refer in detail to some of the provisions of the Act. Section 3(1) provided that after the execution of a "Deed of Church Union" the body of Christian believers known as the Methodist Church of The Bahamas should be recognised as autonomous. The Act refers to this Church as the "Church". To avoid confusion their Lordships will refer to this Church as "the new Church". Section 3(2) and (3) provided that the new Church should be a body corporate, whose members should be such persons as might be specified in the Deed of Church Union. The steps leading to the establishment of the new Church were that a conference, to be known as "the Uniting Conference", was to be held by 'the Participating Churches'. The Participating Churches were defined as such of the congregations of The Bahamas District of the Caribbean Church as agreed to participate in the Uniting Conference. The purpose of this conference was to adopt and execute the Deed of Church Union. This deed, when duly adopted by the Uniting Conference, was to be the constitution of the new Church. The governing body of the new Church should be a Conference, to be constituted in accordance with the Deed of Church Union. Section 14(1) empowered the Conference to make bye-laws for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Act. The doctrinal standards of the new Church were to be those of the British Methodist Church formed on 20th September 1932. (It will be recalled that these are the same standards as those of the Caribbean Church.)
Thus far the...
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