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Vestiges of Establishment

The Ecclesiastical and Canon Law of the Church in Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Thomas Glyn Watkin
Thomas Glyn Watkin
Affiliation:
Lecturer in Law, Cardiff Law School Legal Assistant to the Governing Body of the Church in Wales
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Extract

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A distinction which has been much discussed by those concerned with the laws governing churches, especially perhaps the Church of England and to a lesser extent the Church in Wales, is that between canon law and ecclesiastical law. At times, the terms appear to be used synonymously, whilst at others, there is a clear distinction. It is submitted that both views can be correct. However, they are correct only while certain conditions prevail.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ecclesiastical Law Journal , Volume 2 , Issue 7 , July 1990 , pp. 110 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical Law Society 1990

References

1. Vide, Certoma, G.L., The Italian Legal System, (London, 1984) p. 76ff.Google Scholar

2. Welsh Church Act, 1914, section 3(1).

3. Ibid., section 3(2).

4. Ibid., section 13(1).

5. Vide, Marriage Acts, 1949 to 1986.

6. Vide, Marriage Acts, 1836.

7. Argar v Holdsworth (1758) 2 Lee 515; Davis v Black (1841) 1 QB 900; R v James, (1850) 3 Car. & Kir. 167. Argar v Holdsworth is a case concerning marriage by common licence, and it is unclear from the report whether the ecclesiastical offence was refusal to marry or contempt of the directions of the diocesan bishop. The decision also dates from the time when only Church of England ceremonies constituted valid legal marriages.

8. Welsh Church (Temporalities) Act, 1919, section 6.

9. Marriage Act, 1949, section 5(B).

10. Matrimonial Causes Act, 1965, section 8(2).

11. “The Commissioners of Church Temporalities in Wales” referred to as the Welsh Commissioners; vide, Welsh Church Act, 1914, section 10.

12. Welsh Church Act, 1914, section 8(1) (b).

13. Ibid. section 24(3).

14. Welsh Church (Burial Grounds) Act, 1945, section 1.

15. Ibid., section 2.

16. Under the existing Rules, all parishioners have a right to be buried in the parish burial ground, and parishioners are defined as: “persons normally residing in the parish; persons dying in the parish; ex-parishioners and non-parishioners for whom family graves or vaults are desired to be opened and whose close relatives have been buried in the churchyard; and persons on the electoral roll at the date of death”. The Rules also specifically provided that: “Except so far as rights are preserved by the aforesaid Act [Welsh Church (Burial Grounds) Act, 1945], no discrimination shall be made between the burial of a member of the Church in Wales and of other persons”