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The Church of England, like the other autonomous member churches of the Anglican Communion, has its own system of canon law - known as "Canon law of the Church of England".

The principal body of canon law enacted since the Reformation is the Book of Canons approved by the Convocations of Canterbury and York in 1604 and 1606 respectively. There are 141 canons in the collection, some of which reaffirm medieval prescriptions, while others depend on Matthew Parker's Book of Advertisements and the Thirty-nine Articles. They were drawn up in Latin by Richard Bancroft, Bishop of London, and only the Latin text is authoritative. They were published in separate Latin and English editions in 1604. A few, e.g. canon 37, were amended in the 19th century. A Canon Law Commission was appointed in 1939 to reconsider the matter of canon law in the Church of England: it held eight sessions between 1943 and 1947 and then issued a report which included a full set of new canons which were subsequently considered by Convocation.^[1]

The new Canons of the Church of England were promulged by the Convocations in 1964 (Canterbury) and 1969 (York), and replaced the whole of the 1604 Canons except the proviso to Canon 113 (which relates to Confession). The 7th edition, incorporating amendments made by the General Synod up to 2010, was published in 2012. An updated version is available online.

A Church of England canon is primary legislation that is made by the General Synod of the Church of England. Unlike measures, canons are not approved by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.^[2]

Procedure

Every canon must be approved by the General Synod with the system using a series of committees similar to the three readings of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and other similar legislatures.^[2]

Channel Islands

Jersey

There is a version of the Canons for Jersey, described as "Unofficial extended UK law".^[3] Alongside the details contained in Channel Islands Measure 2020, a 2019 report recommended adopting a new set of canons.^[4]

Guernsey

Similarly to Jersey, it w<as recommended that a new set of canons for Guernsey.^[4]^[5]

Isle of Man

The canons apply to the Isle of Man.^[6]

References

^ Cross, F. L., ed. (1957) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. London: Oxford University Press; pp. 230-31
^ ^a ^b "Standing Orders" (PDF). Church of England. Church of England. 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
^ "CANONS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN JERSEY" (PDF). Jersey Legal Information Board. Jersey Legal Information Board. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b Chartres, Richard (30 September 2019). THE REPORT OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S COMMISSION ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS TO THE WIDER CHURCH OF ENGLAND (PDF) (Report). Church of England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2024.
^ Barker, Tim (16 December 2020). "THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIOCESE OF SALISBURY AND THE DEANERIES OF GUERNSEY AND JERSEY" (PDF). Guernsey Deanery. Church of England. Retrieved 13 September 2024. Sadly, this process has been delayed both by the pressures on all the legislatures, and the need for changes to the Canons in Jersey and for new Canons in Guernsey.
^ "THE BISHOP`S DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL FOR THE DIOCESE OF SODOR AND MAN" (PDF). Ecclesiastical Law. Oxford University Press. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2024. Canon C26 of the Canons relates to the manner of life of ministers.