Trees seldom feature in the deliberations of the consistory courts, and since 2014 L&RUK has only reviewed 23 judgments in this area – just 1.9% of the total[*]. In June 2024, the Ecclesiastical Law Association (ELA) re-circulated Re St. Kenelm Upper Snodsbury [2001] Worcester Const. Ct., Mynors Ch on the basis that it was the first consistory court judgment since changes were made under the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules 2000 (SI 2047); this recognized that petitions concerning works to trees were quite different from those relating to building works and provides a special procedure accordingly; Shirani Herbert has reviewed this judgment in Balancing heritage and necessity: Consistory Court jurisdiction in managing churchyard trees.
This post includes summaries of Re St. Kenelm Upper Snodsbury and these twenty two subsequently reported cases which have been posted on L&RUK over the period 2015 to present; in descending chronological order, these are: