Safeguarding in the Church of England

The Church of England has announced the appointment of a new interim chair and vice-chair for the National Safeguarding Panel: General Synod member Kashmir Garton and church abuse survivor, Jane Chevous, who founded the group, Survivors Voices. The previous chair, Meg Munn MP, resigned in July.

The Church Times quotes Ms Chevous as saying she was “pleased to bring a survivor voice to this role. It’s so important that independent professional and survivor perspectives continue to support and challenge the church in its safeguarding practice.” 

Prevention of terrorism

The King’s Speech setting out the Government’s programme for what will be the last Session of the current Parliament included a commitment to introduce the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill that had been published in draft and consulted upon extensively in the previous Session.

The accompanying briefing notes state that the standard tier duty, which will include almost all places of worship, will apply to premises with a capacity between 100 and 799 people. However, because Ministers want to ensure that businesses and venues can actually deliver the standard tier duty, rather than imposing conditions that they will struggle to meet, there will be a further consultation on the standard tier “to ensure [that] the Bill’s measures strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises such as village halls, churches and other community venues.” Watch this space.

Lords private members’ bills ballot 2023

The results of the Lords’ ballot for private member’s bills 2023 were announced on 9 November and include Lord Scriven’s Disestablishment of the Church of England Bill, to be introduced on Wednesday 6 December. There were two Bills from Lords Spiritual: the Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill by the Bishop of St Albans and the Asylum Application (Entry to the United Kingdom) Bill by the Bishop of Chelmsford.

The likelihood of any of them reaching the statute book is very remote.

Quick links

• Sarah AlJourani, Lexology: Sharia Series; void, voidable or non-marriage?
• Richard Chapman, The Church of England in Parliament: A State Opening tradition – the Select Vestries Bill.
• Christ Church, Oxford: A Byrd in the Library: An Exhibition Celebrating William Byrd: William Byrd (c.1540-1623), one of the finest English composers and musicians of the 16^th/17^th centuries, and no stranger to the practicalities associated with “law and religion”: the exhibition is free is by appointment only and runs throughout Michaelmas Term 2023.
• Ben Connor and Matthew Humphries, Lexology: What will proposals to introduce ‘common law marriage’ mean for cohabiting couples?
• Ignatius Yordan Nugraha, Strasbourg Observers: Consolidating the legal recognition and protection of same-sex couples: Koilova and Babulkova v Bulgaria.
• Ioanna Tourkochoriti, American Journal of Comparative Law: Is Neutrality Possible? A Critique of the CJEU on Headscarves in the Workplace from a Comparative Perspective: “The concept of neutrality, as understood in certain CJEU and European Court of Human Rights cases actually discriminates against some religious groups. It is impossible to be neutral in these issues because neutrality is culturally defined and has a disparate impact in its application upon minority religious groups.”
• Report by the Independent Reviewer: House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests, St Barnabas & St Paul with St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford. 

And finally…