Recent scandals in the churches relating to the abuse of children and vulnerable adults have led to a desire to protect those to whom the churches minister by putting in place safeguards which screen out those not suitable to work in this capacity. For the Roman Catholic Church, the implementation of the Nolan Report has been a key part of this process, together with the setting up of the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults(COPCA). The Conference of Religious (the representative body of priests, sisters and brothers who belong to religious orders) has also been involve in ongoing dialogue with diocesan bishops about how the recommendations of the Nolan Report might best be implemented At the same time, concerns have been raised about whether some of the measures being implemented compromise important principles of privacy and confidentiality. This discussion looks at this from the particular viewpoint of a nun1 who does not work with children or vulnerable adults, and explores whether she is required to undergo checks by the Criminal Records Bureau simply by virtue of being a nun.

In May 2004 eight former communist Central and Eastern European countries joined the European Union. Written constitutions in the region now contain guarantees on freedom of religion together with fundamental statements on Church-State relations. Since the fall of communism a net of bilateral agreements has been negotiated with the Holy See. Of the established members of the EU only Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain had concordats whilst France and Luxembourg were partly bound by such treaties. Amongst the new member states only the predominantly Orthodox Cyorus has no contractual relationship with the Vatican. A pragmatic reason for this may be that the new members went through a very rapid leagal transition marked by considerable uncertainties after the fall of communism. The Catholic Church did not seek privileges with the agrements, but rather legal certainty. The stadards of religious with the agreements, but rather legal certainty. The standards of religious freedom in the new member states are generally good compared with the resrt of Europe. None of the new member states adopted a state church model, and none of them followed a rigid separation model either. Most new member states to be particularly valued by those who experienced forced secularism during communist rule.

The church electoral roll performs a number of important functions within the Church of England, yet the qualifications for enrolment as set out in the Church Representation Rules, and the basis on which a person's name may be removed from the roll, are far from clear. This article considers critically the criteria for enrolment (especially the meaning of ‘habitual’ attendance at public worship), the duties of the electoral roll officer, and the rights of appeal against his decisions. It concludes by drawing attention to the requirement for every parish to prepare a new roll in 2007.

This article explores the New Testament's critique of Old Testament law, a genus of positive law. It looks at the applicability of that critique to modern ecclesiastical law: The article identifies three common misconceptions about the view of the New Testament concerning Old Testament law, and then sets out what the New Testament does say about Old Testament law, principally from the writings of St Paul. The principles underlying the New Testament's critique are established. The critique is made not on natural law grounds but on pragmatic and utilitarian grounds. The grounds of the critique are (i) the efficacy of the law to achieve its true intent; and (ii) the extent to which human beings exaggerate the usefulness of Old Testament law.

The penitentiary in the United States of America originated as a religious institution. Its roots lie in the belief that inmates could reform if they were given an opportunity to engage in reflection, prayer, Bible-reading and work, thus establishing a new personal foundation for functioning as productive members of the larger society. Not surprisingly, given American's predilection for maintaining a secular civil society, this original foundation for the prison eventually fell from favour, and American penological theories became more sociological or psychological in nature. The fact remains, however, that society in the United States is broadly religious, and prisons continue to address the religious beliefs of inmates and how to accommodate those beliefs in a penological setting. This comment provides a case study on this topic, based on littigation concerning the provision of kosher food to Orthodox inmates in the prisons in Colorado.

The last general elections in Spain took place on 14 March 2004. The Socialist Party took over power after eight years of José María Aznar's rightwing conservative government. According to some commentators, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became the new Prime Minister unexpectedly. We should bear in mind that only three days earlier, on 11 March, horrendous terrorist attacks in Madrid had shocked the international community.

The legal revolution brought about by the Human Rights Act 1998 has affected arcane legal areas such as the law of exhumation, by questioning whether refusal to grant an application to exhume and move a dead body would breach the applicant's human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). While the Consistory Courts have been quick to develop arguments based on human rights, the majority of the European Court of Human Rights in its recent judgment in Dödsbo v Sweden showed a greater reluctance to do so, emphasising the fact that although the refusal to exhume may interfere with the applicant's human rights, such an interference could be valid under the terms of the ECHR.

On 27 October 2005 the House of Lords' decision in Fraser v Canterbury Diocesan Board of Finance (No 2)—referred to in this Comment as Fraser (No 2)—ended an audacious attempt by the Canterbury Diocese to eliminate the issue of reverter in the majority of school sites affected by it. The media, largely unable to comprehend the legal issues, announced that the decision would lose the Church a lot of money: ‘The widespread practice of selling school sites could prove to be a costly mistake’; ‘Defeat over sale of school land to cost Church millions’.

On 24 February 2005 the House of Lords delivered a significant judgment on freedom of religion, parental rights to religious freedom, corporal punishment and children's rights. This paper examines R (Williamson) v Secretary of State for Education and Employment. It argues that the House of Lords adopts a much more generous approach to freedom of religion or belief than the European Court of Human Rights. But it is also critical of the argument derived from children's rights.

The editorial of this Journal recently recorded that an English university had awarded degrees in Canon Law for the first time in nearly 500 years.1 That event sparked this short piece of research to discover the identity of the last graduates. To begin our short story, imagine, if you will, the scene on a summer's day in 1535.

A recent article in this Journal by Professor Norman Doe explained the background to, and desirability of, an Anglican covenant, given the present contested issues of theology and discipline. This article examines how such a covenant might be dealt with in Australia.

The July group of sessions saw final approval being given to a group of items, including an Amending Canon, giving effect to the more contentious aspects of the Bridge Review of Synodical Government. In addition to making a number of technical changes to the Church Representation Rules relating to PCCs and deanery synods, the legislation will also alter the size and composition of the General Synod itself: among other changes, overall numbers will fall by 104 to 467 and the archdeacons' special constituency will be removed (their route to membership of the Synod being restricted to the diocesan clergy elections). There will also be reductions in the size of the special constituencies for deans and suffragan bishops.

Recent years have witnessed a piecemeal development of discrimination law that affects religious organisations: the collection includes statutes such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976, statutory instruments such as the Employment Equality Regulations 2003 and 2005, and international human rights instruments such as Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The newest addition to the collection is the Equality Act 2006 (c 3), which received Royal Assent on 16 February 2006.