ecclesiastical law

European Consortium for Church and State Research

The European Consortium for Church and State Research is an organisation of academics from across Europe with an interest in ecclesiastical law. The purpose of the Consortium is to promote the “development of studies of Ecclesiastical Law and of the relations between states and religious confessions in Europe”. The Consortium holds annual meetings the proceedings of which are made available on the site. Meetings in recent years have focused on law and religion in the workplace, religious adjudication and the state and public authorities and the training of religious personnel in Europe.

Interfaith Legal Advisers Network

The Interfaith Legal Advisers Network (ILAN), based at Cardiff Law School's Centre for Law and religion, brings together lawyers and administrators to share their experience of relgious law and the administration of religious organisations and to discuss the interface between State law and religous law. The ILAN webpages include an extensive collection of links to laws and regulatory documents of the major religious groups in the UK.

Ecclesiastical law

This section of the Lupton Fawcett Denison Till website provides information on ecclesiastical law and is compiled by Lionel Lennox, an ecclesiastical and charity lawyer. There is legal guidance aimed at clergy and churchwardens and covering topics such as employment law, repair and maintenance of churches and churchyards and chancel repair liabilities.

Legislation.gov.uk: Church measures

This section of the Legislation.gov.uk website provides access to
Church measures- legislation relating to the administration and organisation of the Church of England. The site is hosted by The National Archives on behalf of HM Government and includes original and revised versions of legislation.
Selected legislation is provided for the period 1920 to 1987 and all church measures from 1988 onwards. These can be browsed by date or searched by keyword or date and viewed in full text.

Canon Law

Article on canon law, as published in the Catholic Encyclopedia online, made available on the New Advent website. The article was written by A. Boudinhon, and transcribed by David DeWolf. It discusses the differences between canon law and ecclesiastical law, and describes the sources and divisions of the body of laws of the Christian Church. It outlines the historical development of collections of canon law texts from the early Christian Church to modern times, and describes the different types of text (bulls, briefs, concordats, etc).

Church measures

Collection of all measures passed by the General Synod of the Church of England since 1988, together with selected Church measures from earlier dates. The measures are on the official Legislation.gov website and they may be searched or browsed.

Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164

Web pages containing the text of the Constitutions of Clarendon, a written statement by Henry II of England, made at Clarendon, near Salisbury, in 1164. The 16 articles concern the relationship between church and state in England and set out to limit the secular power of the church and ecclesiastical courts. These pages form part of the Medieval Sourcebook, an internet resource on medieval history, maintained by Paul Halsall and hosted by Fordham University in New York.

Canon Law Literature

Bibliography on Canon law compiled by Ulrich Rhode, Professor of Canon Law at Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Germany. The bibliography contains links to bibliographic databases, periodicals and book series. The periodicals section is divided into current titles and titles which have ceased publication. Records give the date and place of publication and a link to the website where available. The book series section only includes titles with a website. Many of the resources linked to are available in Italian or German. A few are available in English.

Church of England Legal Services

Website of the Church of England Legal Office who provide professional legal services to National Church Institutions of the Church of England. The website has a list of Church Assembly and General Synod Measures back to 1920 along with Statutory Instruments relating to the Church of England back to 1964. The site also has a copy of the Canons of the Church of England which can be viewed in full in PDF format. A selection of FAQs provide information on ecclesiastical land and the General Synod.

Ecclesiastical Law Society

Website of the Ecclesiastical Law Society (ELS), an organisation established in 1987 to promote the study of ecclesiastical and canon law. The site outlines the aims of the Society and gives details of its events and publications, including the Ecclesiastical Law Journal. The book, 'The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion' can be downloaded in pdf format, free of charge. To accompany the book, the site provides a bibliography, details of selected cases and links to Church resolutions and other official documents.

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