Clergy, civil liability and the Church in Wales

Hall, Helen Patricia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5553-9140 2013. Clergy, civil liability and the Church in Wales. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Chapters 1 and 2 deal with the relationship between the Church in Wales and its clergy; the way in which ministerial working arrangements might be interpreted by the secular courts and the civil law consequences which would flow from this interpretation. The study begins with an analysis of the relationship in the general context of employment law. From this examination it emerges that civil law does not adopt a single, universal definition of employment status, but categorizes working agreements differently for different purposes. Consequently, the discussion moves on to look at how the working arrangements of Church in Wales clergy would be construed in relation to vicarious liability in tort, concluding that vicarious liability would almost certainly attach to torts committed in the course of performing ministerial duties. Having established that the church will be vicariously liable, Chapters 3 and 4 go on to consider the scope of the potential liability in connection with trespass and negligence respectively. The common theme which emerges from these chapters, is the difficulty of defining the boundaries of ministerial duties, given the breadth of activities which these duties can encompass, and the underlying Anglican belief that Holy Orders confer not just a set of tasks but a permanent state of being. The conclusion in chapter 5 proposes dealing with this challenge by analysing the clerical role for the purposes of tort in relation to the professional tasks, expertise and undertakings set out in the Clergy Terms of Service. This analysis can be separated from the theological understanding adopted by the church in the context of doctrine, and gives a workable framework for establishing the scope of tortious liability. This approach is then tested and illustrated with a series of case studies.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Law
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity K Law > K Law (General)
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2022 11:17
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/47602

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