Jurisdiction
Before 1858 consistory courts exercised jurisdiction (concurrently with the courts of their respective provinces) over matrimonial and probate matters. This jurisdiction was moved to the secular courts by the Court of Probate Act 1857 and the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857. Consistory courts also had corrective jurisdiction over the crimes of clerks, but this was abrogated by the Church Discipline Act 1840. Other former areas of jurisdiction included defamation and certain contracts cases.
The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1855 and the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860 removed the remaining judicial functions of the courts.
Today, the principal business of consistory courts is now the dispensing of faculties dealing with churchyards and church property, although they retain the power to hear the trial of clergy (below the rank of bishop) accused of immoral acts or misconduct (under the Clergy Discipline Act 1892).
Read more about this topic: Consistory Court
Famous quotes containing the word jurisdiction:
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—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)