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Synodical Government Measure 1969

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Part VE House of Laity of General Synod

29(1)The House of Laity of the General Synod shall consist of—

(a)the members elected by the diocesan electors of each diocese as hereinafter provided;

(b)[F1three members, two from the Province of Canterbury and one from the Province of York], chosen by the lay members of religious communities from among their number in such manner as may be provided by a resolution of the General Synod;

(c)such ex-officio and co-opted members as are hereinafter provided.

[F2(1A)For the purposes of this Part of these rules the diocese in Europe shall be deemed to be a diocese in the province of Canterbury.]

(2)For the purposes of this Part of these rules, the diocesan electors of a diocese [F3other than the diocese in Europe] shall be the members of the houses of laity of all the deanery synods in the diocese other than the co-opted members [F4and members who were elected pursuant to rule 9(1B).]:

. . . F5

[F6(3)The diocesan electors of the diocese in Europe shall be such number of persons elected by the annual meetings of the chaplaincies in the said diocese as may be determined by the bishop’s council and standing committee of the said diocese, and any lay person who is:

(a)an actual communicant member of the Church of England or of a Church in communion with that Church,

(b)of eighteen years or upwards, and

(c)a person whose name is entered on the electoral roll of such a chaplaincy,

shall be qualified for election as a diocesan elector by the annual meeting of that chaplaincy.]

[F7(4)The qualifying date for lay members of religious communities under paragraph (1)(b) of this rule and for diocesan electors under paragraphs (2) and (3) of this rule shall be 6.00 a.m. on the date of the dissolution of the General Synod, save that when a casual vacancy is being filled, the qualifying date shall be 6.00 a.m. on the date on which the nomination papers are issued.

(5)The register of lay electors shall be open to inspection at the diocesan office and any errors and omissions in the list may be corrected until the close of nominations. Thereafter no names may be added or removed until the declaration of the result of the election and those persons whose names are entered in the register shall be the qualified electors entitled to vote in that election.]

Elections of Members Number of Elected MembersE

30[F8(1)The total number of members directly elected and specially elected from the dioceses in the Province shall not exceed one hundred and seventy for Canterbury and eighty for York and no diocese shall have fewer than three directly elected members (except the diocese in Europe which shall elect two members, and the diocese of Sodor and Man which shall elect one member). Ex officio and co-opted members (as defined in rule 35) shall be additional to the said total number. In this rule the term “specially elected” means the representatives of the religious communities referred to in rule 29(1) hereof and the representatives of the Channel Islands elected in accordance with the Channel Islands (Representation) Measure 1931 and such persons shall be included in the said total number.

(1A)The total number of members to be elected by the diocesan electors of all the dioceses shall be fixed by resolution of the General Synod not later than the last day of November in the fourth year after the last preceding election of the house of Laity (but subject as hereinafter provided), and the resolution shall apportion the number so fixed to the Provinces of Canterbury and York in a proportion of sixty eight to thirty two or as nearly as possible thereto and shall divide the number among the dioceses so that the number of members to be elected by the several dioceses are as nearly as possible proportionate to the total number of names certified for them under the following paragraph.]

(2)The secretary of each diocesan synod shall, not later than the first day of August in the fourth year after the last preceding election of the House of Laity, certify to the secretary of the General Synod the total number of names on the rolls of the parishes of the diocese . . . F9

(3)The number of members of the House of Laity to be elected by each diocese, when fixed by the General Synod as aforesaid, shall forthwith be certified to the secretaries of the diocesan synods.

(4)If the General Synod is at any time dissolved before the fourth year after the last preceding election of the House of Laity or before the fixing of numbers under this rule by the General Synod during that year, the General Synod or the Presidents thereof may give directions with respect to the fixing and certifying of the numbers of members to be elected to the House of Laity by each diocese, and the directions may provide that the numbers so fixed and certified on the last previous occasion shall be deemed to have been fixed and certified for the purpose of the election following the dissolution, and the directions may, if the dissolution is known to be impending, be given before it occurs.

Textual Amendments

F8Rule 30(1)(1A) substituted for rule 30(1) by S.I. 1984/1039, para. 21

F9Words repealed by S.I. 1973/1865, para. 18

Qualification of Elected MembersE

31[F10(1)Subject to the provisions of rule 1(3) and of paragraphs (1A) and (1B) of this rule, a lay person shall be qualified for election for any diocese by the diocesan electors of the diocese if—

(a)he is an actual communicant member of the Church of England,

(b)he is of eighteen years of age on the date of the dissolution of the General Synod;

(c)his name is at 6.00 a.m. on the date of dissolution of the General Synod entered on the roll of any parish in the diocese or who at any time within the period of two months beginning one month immediately before that date is declared by the dean of the cathedral church to be a habitual worshipper at that cathedral church.]

[F11(1A)[F12Subject to the provisions of rule 1(3) and of paragraph (1B) of this rule,] Any lay person who is an actual communicant member of the Church of England or of a Church in communion with that Church and if eighteen years or upwards whose name is entered on the electoral roll of any chaplaincy in the diocese in Europe shall be qualified for election by the diocesan electors of that diocese.]

[F13(1B)A person shall be disqualified from being nominated for election as a member of the General Synod if he holds any paid office or employment appointment to which is or may be made or confirmed by the General Synod, the Convocations, the Central Board of Finance, the Chucrch Commissioners for England (except that such disqualification shall not apply to any Commissioner so appointed in receipt of a salary or other emoluments), the Church of England Pensions Board or the Corporation of the Church House.]

[F14(2)Where a diocese is divided into two or more areas in accordance with rule 32(2), any person who under this rule is qualified for election for the diocese shall be qualified for election for any such area whether or not the parish on whose roll his name is entered, or the cathedral church at which he is a habitual worshipper, is situated in that area, but no person shall be nominated for more than one such area at the same time.]

Electoral AreasE

32(1)Subject to any division of a diocese under this rule every diocese shall be an electoral area for the purposes of elections to the House of Laity.

(2)So far as is consistent with any rule made under the Standing Orders of the General Synod under paragraph (4) of the next following rule [F15and subject to paragraph (3) of this rule] a diocesan synod may, for the purposes of any election, divide a diocese into two or more areas, and apportion the number of members of the House of Laity to be elected for the diocese among such areas, and the election shall be conducted in each area as if such area were a separate diocese. Where a diocese is so divided, a diocesan elector who is a representative of the laity shall vote in the area to which the body by which he was elected belongs, and a diocesan elector who is not a representative of the laity shall vote in such area as the diocesan synod may decide. Any such division shall remain in force until it is revoked by the diocesan synod.

[F16(3)If a diocesan synod decides to divide the diocese into two or more areas in pursuance of this rule the division shall be made in such manner that the number of members to be elected in any such area will be not less than three.]

Textual Amendments

F15Words inserted by S.I. 1973/1865, para. 21(1)

Conduct of ElectionsE

33(1)Subject to any directions by the General Synod or the Presidents thereof, elections to the House of Laity shall be carried out during the three months immediately following any dissolution of the General Synod and shall be so carried out in each each diocese during such period within the said three months as shall be fixed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York.

(2)The presiding officer in each diocese or each area of a diocese shall be the registrar of the diocese or a person appointed by him [F17with the approval of the registrar of the province], except that, if the said registrar is a candidate in the election, the presiding officer shall be a person appointed by the registrar of the province. The expenses of the elections shall be paid out of diocesan funds.

[F18(2A)The diocesan electoral registration officer shall furnish the presiding officer with the names and addresses of the qualified electors and the presiding officer shall ensure that the persons qualified to nominate and vote in elections to the General Synod, and only such persons, shall be sent or given nomination and voting papers in respect of the said election at the address entered against their name in the register of lay electors.]

(3)Every candidate must be nominated and seconded by diocesan electors qualified to vote in the area in which the candidate is seeking to be elected. All nominations shall be in writing [F19shall include the year of the candidate’s birth] and shall be sent to the presiding officer of the area, together with evidence of the candidate’s consent to serve, [F20within such period, being a period of not less than 28 days ending on a date specified by the presiding officer, as that officer may specify]. If any of the candidates so request the presiding officer shall despatch to every elector election addresses from those candidates, sufficient copies of the addresses to be provided by the candidates at their own expense [F21and to be delivered to the presiding officer by such date as he shall determine being not less than seven days after the close of nominations. The presiding officer shall be under no obligation to despatch to electors election addresses received after the due date.]

[F22(3A)It shall be the duty of the presiding officer within seven days of receiving a written request from a duly nominated candidate in the election to supply free of charge to that candidate the copy of the register of lay electors.

(3B)It shall be the duty of the presiding officer in any election under these rules to seek to ensure that during the period beginning on the date on which nominations are invited and ending on the last date for the return of voting papers, no papers or other literature are circulated to the electors by him or by or under authority of the diocesan synod or any deanery synod save election addresses prepared by the candidates under paragraph (3) above and such material relating exclusively either to the conduct of the election or to the business of the diocesan synod or any deanery synod as the presiding officer shall personally have approved.]

[F23(4)[F24Subject to rule 41A,] If more candidates are nominated for any area than there are seats to be filled, the election shall be conducted by voting papers by the method of the single transferable vote under rules to be made from time to time as provided by the Standing Orders of the General Synod. Every voting paper, which shall include the year of birth of each candidate, shall be marked and signed on the reverse thereof by the elector and shall be returnable to the presiding officer within such period, being a period of not less than twenty-one days after the date on which the voting paper is issued, as that officer may specify.]

(5)A candidate or a person nominated by him has the right to be present at [F25but shall take no part in] the counting of the votes, and the presiding officer of the area shall give [F26not less than seven days notice in writing.] to each candidate of the time and place at which the votes are to be counted.

[F27(6)(a)A full return of the result of any election and of the result sheet shall be sent by the presiding officer within ten days of the declaration of the result to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the House of Laity of the General Synod and to the Secretary-General of the General Synod and to every candidate in the election.

(b)The result sheet shall be publicly displayed in the diocesan office in such manner as the bishop may approve and at the General Synod office until the end of the first group of sessions of the new Synod as the Secretary-General may direct. For the purposes of this rule the person who held the office of Chairman or Vice-Chairman immediately before dissolution shall be deemed to hold that office if he has been re-elected to the General Synod.]

[F28(7)The presiding officer in each area shall ensure that the valid voting papers received by him for the purposes of any election to the House of Laity are preserved for a period of not less than two years beginning with the date of the election.]

[F2933A(1)Rules defining the duties to be undertaken by the presiding officers in connection with elections to the House of Laity shall be prepared by the provincial registrars acting jointly, but no such rules shall have effect unless approved by the Standing Committee of the General Synod.

(2)A presiding officer shall be entitled to such fees for the performance by him of the duties aforesaid as may be specified in any order for the time being in force made under section 1 of the M1Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1962; and where with the prior agreement in writing of the bishop’s council and standing committee the presiding officer or any other person performs any other duties in connection with elections to the House of Laity he shall be entitled to such fees as may be specified in the agreement.]

Textual Amendments

Marginal Citations

M11962 No. 1 (21:1).

Term of Office of Elected and Representative MembersE

34The term of office of elected members of the House of Laity and of members chosen by the lay members of religious communities shall be for the lifetime of the General Synod for which they are elected or chosen, but without prejudice to their acting under Article 3(4) of the Constitution during the period of the dissolution of the General Synod or as ex-officio members of other bodies constituted under these rules during that period.

Ex-officio and Co-opted Members of the House of LaityE

35(1)The following persons, if they are not in Holy Orders, shall be ex-officio members of the House of Laity;—

(a)the Dean of the Arches and Auditor;

[F30(b)the Vicar-General of the Province of Canterbury;]

[F31(c)]the Vicar-General of the Province of York;

[F31(d)]the three Church Estate Commissioners;

[F31(e)]the Chairman of the Central Board of Finance.

(2)The House of Laity shall have power to co-opt persons who are actual lay communicant members of the Church of England of [F32eighteen years or upwards] to be members of the House of Laity:

Provided that:—

(a)the co-opted members shall not at any time exceed five in number; and,

(b)no person shall be qualified to become a co-opted member unless not less than two-thirds of the members of the Standing Committee of the House of Laity shall have first consented to his being co-opted, either at a meeting of the Standing Committee or in writing.

(3)Except in regard to their appointment, the ex-officio and co-opted members shall have the same rights and be subject to the same rules and regulations as elected members:

. . . F33

[F34Where such members are on more than one electoral roll, they shall choose the parochial church of which they are to be a member.]

(4)Co-opted members shall continue to be members of the House of Laity until the next dissolution of the General Synod, but without prejudice to their acting under Article 3(4) of the Constitution during the period of the dissolution:

Provided that the House of Laity may, in the case of any co-opted member, fix a shorter period of membership.

(5)The House of Laity may make standing orders for regulating the procedure of and incidental to the appointment of co-opted members and otherwise for carrying this rule into effect.

Textual Amendments

F31Rule 35(1)(c)(d)(e) (originally (1)(b)(c)(d)) re-lettered by S.I. 1973/1865, para. 23(1)

F32Words substituted by S.I. 1973/1865, para. 23(2)

F34Words inserted by S.I. 1983/1039, para. 24

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