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Ecclesiastical Case Reports
PCC of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley v Wallbank and another
(High Court, Chancery Division: Ferris J, March 2000)
Chancel repairs – lay rector
The liability of a lay rector to repair or meet the cost of repairing the chancel of a church by reason of the provisions of the Chancel Repairs Act 1932 is not removed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Citing Halsbury’s Laws of England (4th ed, vol 14, para 1100), Wickenham PCC v Croxford [1935] 2 KB 417, and Chivers and Sons Ltd v Air Ministry [1955] Ch 585, and noting that no action had been taken to implement the Law Commission Report Liability for Chancel Repairs (Law Com No 152, 1985) which condemned the 1932 Act as ‘anachronistic and capricious in its modern application’, the judge rejected the contention that the law was uncertain or that it was any more arbitrary, harsh and unfair than it had been previously. He held that there was no contravention of Article 1 of the first protocol since there was no deprivation of possession or property, merely an incumbrance created by a predecessor in title. There was no discrimination under Article 14 in the enjoyment of convention rights. All persons liable to pay for chancel repairs were treated equally. Further, the liability did not affect freedom of religion under Article 9. It arose from the decision to buy the land and differed from, for example, a tax imposed by a government agency over which the payers had no choice.
[MH]
Note: A report of this case is to be found in (2000) Times, 30 March. For a general discussion of the possible effect on the Church of England of the provisions of the European Convention, see M Hill, The Impact for the Church of England of the Human Rights Act 1998 at page 341 of this volume.
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