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NONCONFORMITY, LAW RELATING TO

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 736 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NONCONFORMITY, See also:LAW See also:RELATING TO . For the See also:history of the See also:gradual See also:relief of nonconformists in See also:England from their disabilities see See also:ENGLISH HISTORY, See also:BAPTISTS, CONGREGATIONAL-ISM, See also:METHODISM, See also:FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF, &C.; also See also:OATH. It iS proposed here to See also:note simply the See also:present legal aspects of non-conformity apart from its history, that is, the matters in which the law as to nonconformists still differs from that applicable to members of the See also:Church of England. The See also:differences may be conveniently grouped under six heads. (1) Judicial See also:Notice.—The courts, both temporal and spiritual, take judicial notice of the tenets and authorities of the Church of England, the See also:crown being See also:head of the law and of the church. Where the tenets and authorities of a See also:nonconformist See also:body come in question, they must be proved by See also:evidence. By See also:Lord See also:Lyndhurst's See also:act, the Nonconformist Chapels Act 1844, where no particular religious See also:doctrine or mode of See also:worship has been prescribed by the See also:deed or See also:instrument of See also:trust the usage of the See also:congregation for twenty-five years is to be taken as conclusive evidence of the doctrine and worshi which may be properly observed in such See also:meeting-houses. (2) Tribunal.—Offences against the law ecclesiastical (not being crimes) committed by See also:clergy of the Church of England as a See also:rule come by letters of See also:request from the See also:bishop of the See also:diocese before the See also:arches See also:court of See also:Canterbury or the See also:chancery court of See also:York (of both of which the same See also:person is See also:judge). Similar matters arising in nonconformist bodies can only be tried by the See also:ordinary See also:secular courts, and generally depend upon the question whether a See also:minister has done any act which is not in accordance with the rules governing the particular body of which he is a minister. A nonconformist body is in law nothing more than a voluntary association, whose members may enforce discipline by any tribunal assented to by them, but must be subject in the last degree to the courts of the See also:realm. See also:Brawling in a church was an offence which formerly See also:fell solely under the See also:cognizance of the spiritual courts, but by the Ecclesiastical Courts See also:Jurisdiction Act 186o any person guilty of brawling in churches or chapels of the Church of England or See also:Ireland, or in any See also:chapel of any religious See also:denomination, is liable on conviction to a See also:fine or imprisonment (see BRAWLING), while clergymen of the Church of England may also be dealt with under the Clergy Discipline Act 1892. (3) Status of Ministers.—A nonconformist minister is not in See also:holy orders, and his chapel is not a consecrated See also:building.

His status is, however, recognized to a limited extent. By the See also:

Toleration Act, 1 Will. & See also:Mar., c. 18, a minister, preacher or teacher of a nonconformist congregation is exempt from certain parochial offices, as that of See also:churchwarden. He is also exempt from serving in the reserve forces or on a See also:jury. These privileges only attach where the See also:place of worship of which he is a minister has been duly registered (tthe Places of Worship See also:Registration Act 1855), unless in the See also:case of bodies subject to See also:special legislation, as See also:Quakers. Registration is not required in the case of consecrated buildings. By the Municipal Corporations Act 1882, s. 12, a nonconformist minister (as is a clerk in holy orders) is disqualified from being elected an See also:alderman or councillor of a See also:town See also:council, but under the See also:Local See also:Government Act 1888 a clerk in holy orders, or other minister of See also:religion, may be a councillor or alderman of a See also:county council, and, under the See also:London Government Act 1899, of a See also:metropolitan See also:borough. He cannot take a degree in divinity at See also:Oxford, See also:Cambridge or See also:Durham (See also:Universities Tests Act 1871), and so is debarred from holding any professorship of divinity in those universities. (4) See also:Marriage.—Marriage by a person in holy orders was probably necessary at See also:common law, at any See also:rate from the See also:Reformation up to 1836. (See MARRIAGE.) And from the date of Lord See also:Hardwicke's Marriage Act, 1753, up to 1836 the ceremony must have been performed in a consecrated building.

The first act of See also:

parliament that relieved dissenters (other than See also:Jews and Quakers) from these restrictions was the Marriage Act of 1836. By that act the ceremony of marriage might be performed in a nonconformist place of worship, but it must be after due notice to the See also:superintendent registrar and in his presence or in that of a registrar, and the building must be one that is duly certified for marriages. The Marriage Act 1898 dispensed with the See also:necessity of the attendance of a registrar at marriages celebrated at a nonconformist place of worship, substituting in place thereof a person duly authorized by the trustees of the place of worship, if the persons intending to be married so See also:desire; but the parties may, if they wish, still require the presence of the registrar. Marriage by banns, See also:licence or special licence cannot take place except ina church. (5) See also:Burial.—By the Burial See also:Laws See also:Amendment Act 188o burial may take place in a See also:churchyard without the See also:rites of the Church of England. But in such a case notice must be given in a specified See also:form, which is unnecessary where the burial service is conducted by a clergyman of the Church of England. (6) See also:Parish Offices.—By I Will. & Mar. c. 18, s. 5, a See also:dissenter chosen churchwarden and scrupling to take the oaths may execute his See also:office by See also:deputy. His See also:acceptance of office is made optional by the act; there is nothing to prevent his discharging it if he see See also:fit to do so. This seems to be still the law, although a See also:declaration was substituted for the oath by the Statutory Declarations Act 1835, S.

9. See also:

British Colonies.—In crown colonies ecclesiastical jurisdiction may be conferred by the See also:sole authority of the crown. In colonies which have See also:parliamentary See also:representation the crown cannot give to a metropolitan bishop jurisdiction or coercive legal authority over See also:suffragan bishops or over any other person. In colonies of the former See also:kind the Church of England may still preserve the privileges which attach to her in the See also:mother See also:country; in colonies of the latter kind she is in the same position as any other religious body, simply a voluntary association. Since the Irish Church Act 1869 the Church of Ireland has been practically in the same position as the Church of England in colonies which have representative government.

End of Article: NONCONFORMITY, LAW RELATING TO

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