The fact that the criminal law in England and Wales continues to afford protection to spouses who conspire together to commit crime is considered by many to be an anachronism. That a person cannot be guilty of conspiracy if the only other person with whom he or she agrees is his or her spouse, is to be found in section 2 of the Criminal Law Act 1977. The origins of the rule are said to be based on biblical principles pertaining to marriage. The difficulty with that is that the concept of marriage has changed significantly over time, which raises the question of whether or not the existence of the exemption can today be justified. In R v Yilkyes Finok Bala and Others [2016] EWCA Crim 560, the Court of Appeal was faced with the question of whether or not the legislative exemption applied to those who were party to a polygamous marriage. While acknowledging that there are arguments in support of the proposition that the exemption is outmoded, the Court of Appeal nevertheless interpreted the statutory provision in such a way so as to encompass parties to a polygamous marriage recognised under English law as valid. By virtue of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, the exemption was extended to cover civil partners. The expansion of the exemption is curious in the light of prevailing attitudes towards the applicability of the exemption at all in modern times. Furthermore, other statutory provisions (relating to analogous matters) have either been enacted or repealed to reflect present-day understandings of how the issue of marriage interacts with the criminal law. Yet, for reasons which are not altogether clear, the spousal exemption vis-à-vis the criminal offence of conspiracy remains in force.

This article examines the Church of England's stewardship of its silver plate. It explains the way in which the use of chalices, patens and flagons changed over time and considers the legal basis on which church plate is held by churchwardens. It explains how, having initially discountenanced all sales of redundant church plate, consistory courts came to authorise sales to museums. It also explains how, following a series of judgments by George Newsom QC, acting first as Chancellor of both London and St Albans dioceses and later as Deputy Dean of the Court of Arches, sales on the open market were more frequently allowed and then how, following the judgment of the Court of Arches in re St Lawrence, Wootton, a more restrictive approach was re-imposed. It considers the practical and legal issues arising out of that judgment. Finally, it considers the role of the Court of Arches as a maker of policy.

Not a single day goes by without Pope Francis making charity and mercy – central characteristic traits of any Christian – the pivot of his sermons, exhortations and proclamations, formal and informal alike. The last holy year, concluding in November 2016, which explicitly featured the motto of mercy, offers a welcome opportunity for the canonist to contemplate the relationship between mercy and justice. Certainly, there is no lack of warning speeches and auguries against the oversimplification of the canonical norms through invoking a false understanding of an imperative of indefinite mercy. To do so would be to neglect the crucial and central commandment of justice, which ensures both legal certainty and an equal treatment of similar cases. The papal address given to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota in 2009 may serve as an eloquent example. In his address Benedict XVI emphasised the interrelation of love (caritas) and justice (iustitia), but at the same time explicitly cautioned against over-pastorally motivated charity as far as the application of the law is concerned:

As foreshadowed in the previous report for February to May, in June the Conservatives concluded a ‘Confidence and Supply’ agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party in order to give them a small working majority in the Commons. The Queen duly delivered the Gracious Speech on 21 June, outlining the legislative programme for a Parliamentary session that, unusually, will run from 2017 to 2019. In July, the new Government published the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill and in September it was given a second reading by 326 votes to 290 and committed to the Committee of the whole House for eight days of detailed debate.

This report covers the groups of sessions held in February 2017 and July 2017. Both groups of sessions saw significant amounts of legislative business, with earlier items being completed and new items being introduced. A number of them gave effect to proposals emerging from the simplification strand of the Archbishops’ Council's ‘Renewal and Reform’ programme or were in other ways intended to simplify or streamline the Church's substantial body of statute law; in a related area, one was directed towards simplifying the procedures for changing that law.

The General Assembly met in Edinburgh from 20 to 26 May with the Rt Revd Dr Derek Browning, Minister of Morningside in the Presbytery of Edinburgh, installed as Moderator. This year's Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly was the Princess Royal.

Archbishop Dr Barry Morgan having retired, the presidential address at the April meeting was given by the Senior Bishop, the Rt Revd John Davies, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, on behalf of all of the bishops of the Church, with the emphasis on evangelism – which set the tone for the rest of the Governing Body meeting.

This year's General Synod, the third meeting of the triennium, was held in Limerick City in a hotel with conference facilities. It was the first time that the General Synod had met in the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe. The Synod passed Bills relating to ecumenical canons, General Synod membership and confirmation registers, as well as the ongoing area of pensions. There was also a Bill fixing anomalies relating to cross-references in the Constitution following the consolidation of part of the Constitution at last year's General Synod. Bills relating to the table of contents of the Book of Common Prayer were also passed.

The General Synod met at St Paul's and St George's Church in Edinburgh from 8 to 10 June. In his charge to Synod the Primus, the Most Revd David Chillingworth, called the Church to unity as it debated its understanding of marriage. He suggested that God privileged agreement: ‘if two or three agree on earth about anything in my name, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven’. The converse was that the inability to agree closed off blessing and the challenge was whether the Church's oneness in Christ could sustain unity in the face of the diversity of views.