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The Constitutional Implications of the Survival of the Diocese of Sodor and Man

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2019

Peter W Edge
Peter W Edge*
Affiliation:
Professor of Law, Oxford Brookes University
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Abstract

The Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man is an important member of the Legislative Council, the second chamber of the Manx Tynwald. The shape of Tynwald has changed considerably since the mid-nineteenth century, and there have been frequent reviews of the place of ecclesiastical officers in it. The most recent debates illuminate this form of religious representation, but in particular show the importance of ecclesiastical structures – and the contingent status of the Diocese of Sodor and Man – in the lord bishop retaining a vote, as well as a voice, in the principal organ of governance in the Isle of Man. This article argues that a more critical approach is needed in weighing the ecclesiastical structure argument against other constitutional arguments around the constitutional position of the lord bishop.

Keywords

Isle of Manreligious representationLords SpiritualTynwaldSodor and Man
Type
Articles
Information
Ecclesiastical Law Journal , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 179 - 195
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical Law Society 2019 

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References

1 Isle of Man Government, 2016 Isle of Man Census Report, GD 2017/004 (2017), p 8.

2 Edge, P and Pearce, C, ‘The work of a religious representative in a democratic legislature: a case study of the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man in Tynwald, 1961–2001’, (2004) 9:2 Marburg Journal of Religion 1–42Google Scholar, at 19.

3 W Sacheverell, An Account of the Isle of Man (1702), Essay Three.

4 Moore, R, ‘The roll of the Keys’, (1956) 5:2 Proceedings of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society 47Google Scholar.

5 National Records of Scotland, Loch Papers, GD 268/116, W Drinkwater to H Loch, 2 February 1863.

6 See further A Moore, ‘The House of Keys: its origin and constitution’, (1889) 1 Yn Lioar Manninagh 245–259.

7 P Edge, ‘Sovereign/Lord? The enduring legal importance of Revestment’, (2017) 15 Proceedings of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society 127–130.

8 Isle of Man Customs and Harbours Act 1866.

9 On which see Fyson, R, The Struggle for Manx Democracy (Isle of Man, 2016), pp 217–248Google Scholar.

10 Manx National Heritage Library, Letterbook vi, f, 578–595, C Hope to Fitzroy, 16 August 1853.

11 Report of the Departmental Committee on the Constitution etc of the Isle of Man (London, 1911), Appendix I, Petition of the House of Keys, 27 February 1907.

12 Ibid, p 22.

13 Ibid.

14 Isle of Man Constitution Act 1919, ss 6 and 7.

15 See Belchem, J, ‘Constitutional development and public policy, 1900–79’ in Belchem, J (ed), A New History of the Isle of Man Volume 5: the modern period 1830–1999 (Liverppol 2001), pp 163–164CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16 Isle of Man Constitution Act 1961, s 10(1).

17 Constitution (Amendment) Act 1978.

18 Report of Proceedings of the Legislative Council, 9 January 1979, p C47.

19 Report of Proceedings of the Legislative Council, 29 March 1965, p 956.

20 Constitution Act 2006, s 1.

21 Lord Lisvane, ‘Review of the functioning of Tynwald’, GF No. 2016/0047 (henceforth Lisvane Review), available at <https://www.gov.im/media/1352029/review-of-the-functioning-of-tynwald-gd-2016-0047.pdf>, accessed 7 December 2018.

22 Proceedings of Tynwald Court, 19 May 2015, 132(12), at 1726.

23 Lisvane Review, p 24.

24 Ibid, pp 35–37.

25 Ibid, pp 33–34.

26 Select Committee on the Functioning of Tynwald, ‘Interim report of the Select Committee on the Functioning of Tynwald: remit and work plan’ (July 2017).

27 Proceedings of Tynwald Court, 4 October 2016, 134(1) at 225–6 per the President.

28 Proceedings of the House of Keys, 19 December 2017, 137(7) at 1230 per Mr Quayle.

29 Proceedings of Tynwald Court, 4 October 2016, 134(1) at 597 per the President.

30 See for instance ‘MHK criticises Chief Minister vote process’, Energy FM, 6 October 2016, <https://www.energyfm.net/cms/news_story_450339.html>, accessed 7 December 2018.

31 Council of Ministers (Amendment) Bill 2016.

32 For the full debate see Proceedings of the House of Keys, 19 December 2017, 135(7), 308–326.

33 Council of Ministers (Amendment) Act 2018, s 2; amending Council of Ministers Act 1990, s 2.

34 Edge and Pearce, ‘Work of a religious representative’.

35 For the principal debate, see Proceedings of Tynwald Court, 21 February 2018, 135(7).

36 Ibid, 2524–2528.

37 Ibid, 3590–3591.

38 Ibid, 4164–4170.

39 Ibid, 2779–2785.

40 See, for instance, Mrs Corlett: ‘This for me is not about religion or faith, but it is about something just as fundamental: it is about democracy’ (ibid, 2102–2103).

41 Ibid, 3319–3320.

42 Ibid, 3181–3182.

43 Ibid, 2912–2916.

44 Constitution (Legislative Council) Bill, Proceedings of the House of Keys, 4 May 1982, p K474.

45 Question to the Executive Council, Proceedings of Tynwald Court, 14 December 1982.

46 For instance in the Resolution to adopt Second Report of Select Committee on Representation of the People, Proceedings of the House of Keys, 25 January 1983.

47 Report on Reform of the Legislative Council, Proceedings of Tynwald Court, 13 July 1994.

48 Constitution Bill, Proceedings of the House of Keys, 23 January 2001.

49 P Edge, ‘Tynwald and the Bishop of Sodor & Man’, Law & Religion UK, 28 June 2017, <http://www.lawandreligionuk.com/2017/06/29/tynwald-and-the-bishop-of-sodor-man/>, accessed 7 December 2018.

50 Select Committee on the Functioning of Tynwald, ‘Third report’ (February 2018), available at: <http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/pp/Reports/2018-PP-0018.pdf>, accessed 6 February 2019.

51 His letter is reproduced in ibid, appendix 1.

52 Proceedings of Tynwald Court, 21 February 2018, 135(7), 835–879.

53 Ibid, 1270.

54 Ibid, 1505–1506.

55 Ibid, 2145–2319.

56 Ibid, 2397.

57 Ibid, 1699–1700.

58 See Edge, P, ‘Reforming termination of pregnancy’, (1995) 3 Web Journal of Current Legal IssuesGoogle Scholar.

59 88 women travelled from the Isle of Man to England for terminations in 2016.

60 Proceedings of the Legislative Council, 22 May 2018, 135(16) at 246–257.

61 Ibid, 517–519.

62 Proceedings of the Legislative Council, 12 June 2018, 135(17) at 261–327.

63 Ibid, 202.

64 Proceedings of the Legislative Council, 26 June 2018, at 331–379.

65 Ibid, 1885.

66 Ibid, 1895–1896.

67 Ibid, 1946–1949.

68 Quoted in ‘Bishop under fire over abortion bill moves’, IOM Today, <http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=41123&headline=Bishop%20under%20fire%20over%20abortion%20bill%20moves&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2018>, accessed 28 September 2018.

69 Edge, P and Pearce, C, ‘Official religious representation in a democratic legislature: lessons from the Manx Tynwald’, (2004) 46 Journal of Church and State 575–616CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 581–586.

70 Edge and Pearce, ‘Work of a religious representative’, pp 14–15.