On Tuesday 10 February 2026, General Synod considered the Reintroduction/Final Approval of the Clergy Conduct Measure, Clergy Conduct Measure, GS 2311B and Report by the Legislative Committee (Clergy Conduct Measure), GS 2311W.

Background

Following the Ecclesiastical Committee (Joint Committee) meeting on 21 October 2025 to discuss the proposed Clergy Conduct Measure, the Committee, in accordance with s3(4) Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, communicated its report on the Clergy Conduct Measure in draft to the Legislative Committee, on 30 October 2025.

The Ecclesiastical Committee indicated in its draft report that it was of the opinion that the Clergy Conduct Measure was “not expedient”. Its principal concern was section 31(3) of the Measure which provides:

“(3) The tribunal or court is to sit in private except in a case where: (a) the respondent requests that the sitting be in public, (b) the tribunal or court is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice to sit in public, or (c) the rules provide for the sitting to be in public”.

The Ecclesiastical Committee’s view was “that the Measure should … be amended to make clear that the tribunal or court will ordinarily sit in public, with limited exceptions where it may be appropriate and justified for sittings to be held in private – such as cases relating to children” (paragraph 7 of the draft report).

The Legislative Committee withdrew the Measure from the Ecclesiastical Committee and sought its reintroduction into the Synod with a view to an amendment being made to address the principal concern raised[1].

Legislative Committee Consideration

The Report by the Legislative Committee (Clergy Conduct Measure), GS 2311W (December 2025) commented:

“20. The concern raised by the Ecclesiastical Committee in its draft report is effectively the same as that raised by Mr Scowen at the Revision Stage.

21. Now that the Ecclesiastical Committee have considered the point and indicated that they consider the Measure not to be expedient principally because of the presumption that courts and tribunals will sit in private, the Legislative Committee  recommends that the Synod consider this question again.

22. To that end, if the Synod agrees the motion for the re-introduction of the Measure, the Legislative Committee will propose an amendment to section 31 to leave out the existing subsection (3) and insert in its place the following subsection:

“(3) The tribunal or court is to sit in public except—  (a) in circumstances in which the tribunal or court is satisfied that  it is in the interests of justice to sit in private, or  (b) in such circumstances as the rules may specify.”

23.The effect of that amendment would be that a tribunal or court exercising jurisdiction under the Measure would, by default, sit in public; it would sit in private only if the court or tribunal was satisfied that it was in the interests of justice to sit in private or in specific circumstances that were specified in the rules. The Legislative Committee was advised that this could enable some parts of proceedings in a particular case to be held privately, even if the proceedings generally in that case were held in public.

24. In the light of its meeting with members of the Ecclesiastical Committee on 8 December, the Legislative Committee is of the view that its proposed amendment would meet the concerns raised. On that basis, the Legislative Committee recommends that the Synod agree the proposed amendment.

25. If the Synod approves the amendment and proceeds to give final approval to the Measure as amended, the Legislative Committee intend to re-submit the Measure to the Ecclesiastical Committee with revised comments and explanations that address both the amendment and the other concerns raised in their draft report.

General Synod Consideration

The Church of England Legislative Business Tuesday 10 February 2026 includes the following report on the Clergy Conduct Measure[2]:

[1] David Lamming’s Comment discusses the procedure involved. He notes: “A previous occasion when the EC found a draft Measure inexpedient concerned what became, after amendment, the Churchwardens Measure 2001. James Behrens wrote about the process in an article for the Ecclesiastical Law Journal: 6 Ecc LJ 97. In that case, the draft Measure first received Synod’s approval in July 1997 and, after being batted back and forth between Synod and the EC, eventually received Royal Assent nearly four years later in April 2001”.

[2] See also Synod approves amended Clergy Conduct Measure. Note however, that the URL to “The new Clergy Conduct Measure (CCM)” links to the Final Drafting – February 2025 version, prior to the amendment in February 2026.