Arches Court

The Arches Court's permanent home isSt Mary-le-Bowin theCity of London.

TheArches CourtorCourt of Arches,presided over by theDean of Arches,is anecclesiastical courtof theChurch of Englandcovering theProvince of Canterbury.Its equivalent in theProvince of Yorkis theChancery Court.

It takes its name from the street-level arched windows of the old crypt ofSt Mary-le-Bow(Sancta Maria de Arcubus) where the court still sits.

Provincial Court

The Court of Arches is the provincial Court of Appeal for Canterbury. It has bothappellateandoriginal jurisdiction.It is presided over by the Dean of the Arches, who is styledThe Right Honourable and Right Worshipful the Official Principal and Dean of the Arches.The dean must be abarristerof ten years'High Courtstanding or the holder or former holder of high judicial office. The appointment is made by the two archbishops jointly.

At various times the court has sat in the church ofSt Mary-le-Bow(Sancta Maria de arcubus,formerly the archbishop's principalpeculiarin London), whose arches give the court its name. The court used to sit in a large room over the north aisle of the 11th-century crypt adjoining Bow Lane. The room was later rebuilt on an even larger scale, and eventually came to be used as the vestry.After theGreat Fireit was held inDoctors' Commonsand also at 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster andSt Paul's Cathedral.Its permanent home remains St Mary le Bow, where regular sittings include those to confirm the election of each new diocesan bishop in the province. The Provincial Registry is at 16Beaumont Street,Oxford.

The proper jurisdiction of the court is over only the 13peculiarparishes belonging to the archbishop inLondon.But, as the office of Dean of the Arches is united with that of Principal Official, the dean receives and determines appeals from the sentences of all lesser ecclesiastical courts within the province. Many original suits are also heard, where lesser courts waive jurisdiction by letters of request. Appeal lies with thePrivy Council,except on matters of doctrine, ritual or ceremony, which go to theCourt for Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved.

There may also be a Deputy Dean. The court normally consists of the dean, two clerks appointed by the prolocutor of the lower house of the appropriate convocation and two lay people appointed by the Chairman of the House of Laity in consultation with the Lord Chancellor. Such appointees will have had judicial experience and be diocesan chancellors. Since 1991 there have been two diocesan chancellors appointed by the dean. All these are assistant provincial court judges.

Original jurisdiction was formerly exercised by a separate provincial court, known as the Court of Audience.

History

The jurisdictions called "peculiars" at one time numbered nearly three hundred in England. They were originally introduced by thePopefor the purpose of curtailing a bishop's authority within hisdiocese.The dean of the Arches originally had jurisdiction over the thirteen London parishes mentioned above, but as the official principal was often absent as ambassador on the continent, the dean became his substitute, and gradually the two offices were blended together. The judge of the Arches court was until 1874 appointed by theArchbishop of Canterburyfor the life of the holder. But by thePublic Worship Regulation Act 1874the two archbishops were empowered to appoint a practising barrister or judge as described above.

The official principal of the Arches court is the only ecclesiastical judge who is empowered to pass a sentence ofdeprivationagainst a clerk inholy orders.The appeals from the decisions of the Arches court were formerly made to the king inchancery,but they are now by statute addressed to the king in council, and they are heard before theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council.By an act ofHenry VIII(Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1532) the Arches court is empowered to hear, in the first instance, such suits as are sent up to it by letters of request from theconsistory courtof the bishops of the province of Canterbury, and it is further empowered to accept letters of request from the bishops of the province of Canterbury after they have issued commissions of inquiry under that statute, and the commissioners have made their report.The Arches court was also the court of appeal from the consistory courts (of the bishops of the province) in all testamentary and matrimonial causes. The matrimonial jurisdiction was transferred to the secular courts by theMatrimonial Causes Act 1857and testamentary jurisdiction by later statute.

Leadership

The Provincial Registrar of Canterbury is appointed by the archbishop, after consultation with the Standing Committee of the General Synod. There may be a deputy provincial registrar. The provincial registrar acts as legal advisor to the archbishop, the registrar of the provincial court and the joint registrar of theGeneral Synod.

Archives

The archives of the court have been held since 1953 atLambeth Palace Library.They include items dating back to the early 14th century, but only survive with any consistency from 1660 onwards.

See also

• Ecclesiastical court § Church of England

References

• Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Arches, Court of".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 366.

Further reading

• Barber, Melanie (1993). "Records of the Court of Arches in Lambeth Palace Library".Ecclesiastical Law Journal.3:10–19.doi:10.1017/S0956618X00001678.
• Houston, Jane, ed. (1972).Index of Cases in the Records of the Court of Arches at Lambeth Palace Library 1660–1913.Index Library. Vol. 85. Chichester:British Record Society.ISBN0850330629.
• Logan, F. Donald, ed. (2005).The Medieval Court of Arches.Canterbury & York Society.Vol. 95. Woodbridge: Boydell.ISBN9780907239680.
• Slatter, M. Doreen (1953). "The Records of the Court of Arches".Journal of Ecclesiastical History.4:10–19.

External links

• Archives of the Court of Arches at Lambeth Palace Library