The Question Notice Paper for the forthcoming General Synod in July 2025 included the following Q&A exchange on gluten-free bread/non-alcoholic wine issue raised in February.
Q172 Mrs Abigail Ogier (Manchester) to ask the Chair of the Liturgical Commission: What progress has been made to ensure that people who are unable to consume gluten [...]
Background In Rafiyev v Azerbaijan [2025] ECHR 171, Mr Rafiyev was a follower of the Nurism sect of Islam [5]. In 2017, after attending a funeral, he and others visited a friend,
TA, at his house and, at around 1 pm, several police officers raided the house and arrested Mr Rafiyev and twenty-one others. [...]
On Friday 4 July 2025, the House of Lords gave a second reading to Baroness Benjamín’s Still-Birth (Definition) Bill [HL], a Bill applicable to England and Wales to “Amend
the definition of still-birth to apply from 20 weeks into a pregnancy; and for connected purposes”. [...]
In this episode of Legal Spirits, we review the Supreme Court’s major religion cases from the October 2024 Term. From religious charter schools to religious exemptions to
parental rights in public education, the Court addressed long-standing issues—and, in one case, made a dramatic move. [...]
On 4 June 2025, the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of Holy Trinity with St. John, Micklegate and
St. Martin Cum Gregory, York. Action was taken against the charity under S46 Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”) as a result of its regulatory concerns that there [...]
I am including below the text of our announcement for our symposium next spring, which will consider the theme of law and virtue. Elizabeth Kirk and I are thrilled that Professor
Mary Ann Glendon will keynote the conference. Here I want to emphasize that we are especially looking for early career scholars (with or without academic position!) [...]
The Charity Commission has announced that it has concluded its compliance investigation into Nottingham Islam Information Point and has issued an Official Warning to the charity
and imposed a three-year disqualification on one of the trustees under section 181A of the Charities Act 2011. [...]
Burial records This week there have been two cases which have demonstrated the importance of maintaining accurate and up-to-date records of interment. Re An Exhumation [2025]
ECC Por 1, reported here, centred on the rector distinguishing between “the Correct Plot” and “the Incorrect Plot” for the deposit of cremation ashes, (to [...]
Following our April review of the most-viewed “named posts” in the first four months of 2025[1], we have conducted a longer term analysis of the most-viewed posts in the
period 1 August 2024 to 4 July 2025; those listed below are summarized at the end of this post, here. [...]
Last year, a BBC investigation into the Church of England’s approach to allegations about Blackburn priest Andrew Hindley exposed serious failings in child protection; this
was reported in our post Safeguarding at Blackburn Cathedral. On 3 July 2025, the Diocese of Blackburn published Audit highlights ‘strong commitment to safeguarding’ [...]
