In May 1939 the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury humbly requested His Grace the President (in conjunction with the President of the Convocation of York) to appoint a Commission to consider the whole question of the revision and codification of the Canon Law. Later on in the summer of 1939 the Commission was appointed under the title “Canon Law Commission” by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Lang) in conjunction with the Archbishop of York (Dr Temple) with the following terms of reference:

A—To consider and report on the questions:

(1) What is the present status of Canon Law in England (a) as regards canons in force before the Reformation; (b) as regards canons made and promulgated since the Reformation; and (2) What method should be followed to determine which canons are to be regarded as obsolete and to provide the Church with a body of canons certainly operative and apart from which none would be operative or reasonably regarded as operative.

B—To prepare, if after such consideration this seems expedient, a revised body of canons based on the conclusions reached under A above, for submission to Convocation.

‘In order to make its conclusions intelligible to the ordinary reader the Commission has written much of its report in the form of a short history of Canon Law, dealing with its origins and the part which it has played in the life of the Church of England. The report is divided into seven chapters. Chapter I deals with the place of law in the Christian Church.