The Courts, the Church and the Constitution
Aspects of the Disruption of 1843
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
Published:15th Jul '08
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Commissioned by the Clark Foundation for Legal Education, this book is derived from the inaugural Jean Clark Lectures, hosted by the University of Aberdeen in 2007. Across three lectures, the Rt Hon. Lord Rodger of Earlsferry discusses and analyses the legal and constitutional issues arising from the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843, when the majority of leading ministers left the Church of Scotland to set up the Free Church. Lord Rodger takes a fresh look at the series of cases in the Court of Session and the House of Lords between 1837 and 1843 which led to the Disruption, showing how they gave rise to the most important constitutional crisis and challenge to the Courts' authority that had occurred since the 1707 Union. The first lecture traces the development of the crisis and shows how the dominant party in the Church came to see the judges as failing to invoke the safeguards for its independence enshrined in the Treaty of Union, a situation which was portrayed as a war between the Courts and the Church. Lecture two shows how the counsel and judges in the cases had already been active on either side of the struggle within the Church, and traces the judges' reaction to the Church's challenge to their authority. The concluding lecture considers developments after 1843, particularly the background to the famous decision in the Free Church case of 1904. Finally, Lord Rodger shows how essentially the same issue of spiritual independence can arise today, as shown by the Percy case in 2005.
This will doubtless become a principal text for churchmen with an interest in constitutional questions, and for civil lawyers with an interest in ecclesiastical questions. The second strength lies in the human interest woven through the narrative. Throughout the book, but especially in the second lecture and in many of the endnotes, the character of the ministers, counsel and judges -- and many of them were certainly Scottish "characters" -- is brought to life in this elegant and cultured account of the events and their context... Divinity schools should be as glad at the appearance of this scholarly and gently witty volume as law schools certainly must be. -- Marjory A MacLean, Depute Clerk to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Edinburgh Law Review For anyone specialising in Scottish church or legal history over the long nineteenth century this is essential reading; but it should also be of value to those with a more general interest in issues of church-state relations. 'The bookcase of many a Scottish household', notes Lord Rodger, 'used to contain a copy of Brown's Annals of the Disruption - that most sentimental of books'. Mine still does: and I am delighted to have the Courts, the Church and the Constitution as an unsentimental companion to set alongside it. -- Frank Cramer, Durham Ecclesiastical Law Journal This will doubtless become a principal text for churchmen with an interest in constitutional questions, and for civil lawyers with an interest in ecclesiastical questions. The second strength lies in the human interest woven through the narrative. Throughout the book, but especially in the second lecture and in many of the endnotes, the character of the ministers, counsel and judges -- and many of them were certainly Scottish "characters" -- is brought to life in this elegant and cultured account of the events and their context... Divinity schools should be as glad at the appearance of this scholarly and gently witty volume as law schools certainly must be. For anyone specialising in Scottish church or legal history over the long nineteenth century this is essential reading; but it should also be of value to those with a more general interest in issues of church-state relations. 'The bookcase of many a Scottish household', notes Lord Rodger, 'used to contain a copy of Brown's Annals of the Disruption - that most sentimental of books'. Mine still does: and I am delighted to have the Courts, the Church and the Constitution as an unsentimental companion to set alongside it.
ISBN: 9780748637546
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 255g
160 pages