The Civil Tribunal of Lorient ruled on 3 April that the exclaustration imposed on Sabine de la Valette, formerly Mother Marie Ferréol, from the Congregation of Dominicans of the Holy Spirit signed by Cardinal Ouellet in 2020, at the time Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, had amounted to her wrongful dismissal. During the hearing on 4 October 2023, the President of Lorient’s First Civil Chamber noted that the letter from Cardinal Marc Ouellet given to the nun during her exclusion had accused her of “systematic criticism, a partisan spirit, public demonstrations of resistance or disagreement ..read more

Background In Allouche v France [2024] ECHR 305 [in French], Ms Allouche met B, a bartender, in a café near her workplace, an association working to remember the victims of the Holocaust. They evidently struck up some kind of rapport, but after she declined B’s invitations to a date he sent her 26 e-mails expressing his disappointment and containing insults, threats of violence, rape and death, some accompanied by antisemitic remarks. His last e-mail included a photograph of Hitler [4-6]. She filed a complaint about the death threats and antisemitic insults. The police drew up an initial repor ..read more

The ECtHR and climate change The Grand Chamber’s ruling in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v Switzerland [2024] ECHR 304, handed down on Tuesday, seems to have caused a (predictable) storm – and though nothing to do with “religion” specifically, it’s potentially very important in the wider area of human rights law. In brief, the applicants argued that the Swiss authorities had been insufficiently diligent in the area of climate‑change mitigation and that their demographic group – elderly females – was particularly vulnerable to climate-induced heatwaves; they relied on Articles ..read more

The Church of England has issued the following Press Release on the appointment process for the Bishop of Blackburn. Independent reviewer upholds appointment process for Bishop of Blackburn 11/04/2024 A report by the Independent Reviewer Canon Maggie Swinson on the process leading to the nomination of the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, following concerns by the group Women And The Church (WATCH) has been published. Canon Swinson concludes that the process of consultation and nomination, during 2022, was in line with the regulations but recommends some changes to the rules for futu ..read more

Further to the Tribunal Decision The Revd Canon Richard Peers, 21 March 2024, de Mestre Ch. issued a Ruling on paragraph 309 Clergy Discipline Measure 2003: Code of Practice concerning the possession and use of documents relating to the proceedings by third parties and the provision of these documents to them by the Complainant, 8 April 2024[1]. This commenced with a reference to Paragraph 309 Clergy Discipline Measure 2003: Code of Practice (the “Code of Practice”), viz.: “[309]. Where an allegation has been referred for determination before a tribunal or court, the Chair may certify tha ..read more

Section 2 of the Compensation Act 2006 (Apologies, offers of treatment or other redress) was enacted to make it easier for organisations to apologise for their actions without admitting civil liability: it reads, “An apology, an offer of treatment or other redress, shall not of itself amount to an admission of negligence or breach of statutory duty”. On 8 April, the Ministry of Justice launched a consultation, Reforming the Law of Apologies in Civil Proceedings in England and Wales to consider whether section 2  remains adequate or whether legislative provisions to clarify or amend the cu ..read more

Withdrawing from the ECHR? According to a report in The Times on Wednesday, in an interview with The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots the Prime Minister said that controlling illegal immigration was “more important” than membership of the European Convention of Human Rights and that if Strasbourg blocked his attempt to deport asylum seekers he was ready to promise to withdraw from the ECHR. He insisted that he would not let a “foreign court” interfere with a policy that was “fundamental to our sovereignty”. However, simply leaving the ECHR is not as easy as it may look to the PM. As David All ..read more

Background In Executief van de Moslims van België and Others v Belgium [2024] ECHR 137, the Flemish and Walloon Regions had both issued decrees prohibited the slaughter of animals without pre-stunning while providing for reversible stunning in cases of ritual slaughter. The applicants, organisations representing Muslims in Belgium and Muslim and Jewish nationals, lodged an unsuccessful application with the Constitutional Court to have those decrees set aside. Before the ECtHR, they complained that the ban prevented the slaughter of animals in accordance with the precepts of their religion ..read more

Since the new provisions of the Faculty Jurisdiction (Amendment) Rules 2022  came into force on 1 July 2022, their application has been considered in eighteen consistory court judgments; the respective Chancellors examined the extent to which the petitioners had investigated the suitability of various heating options including: air source heat pumps; gas boilers; oil boilers; radiant heaters; and solar panels, each addressing location specific requirement and including both medium- and longer-term solutions. Only one petition was refused on account of the lack of detailed information ..read more

The Cathedral Church of St James and St Edmund, Bury St Edmunds (“St Edmundsbury Cathedral“) is one of the last Church of England cathedrals to replace its pews with chairs. The pews were scheduled to be removed at the end of February and six-seater and eight-seater pews made available for purchase. The Cathedral has observed: “The Victorians retrofitted churches and cathedrals with pews that suited the society at the time, and now it’s time for us to do the same. Both Gilbert Scott and Dykes Bower, great visionaries of St Edmundsbury Cathedral, had chairs in the restoration plans, which means ..read more