The Faculty Jurisdiction (Amendment) Rules 2019
These Rules amend the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules 2015 (SI 2015/1568) by—amending Part 1 (overriding objective) to insert sign posts to other, related rules;amending Part 2 (application and interpretation) so that “article” is defined generally for the purposes of the Rules;amending Part 3 (matters not requiring a faculty) so that work carried out to oil-fired heating systems is subject to an accredited certification scheme; and to improve the manner in which provisions in rule 3.7 are stated;substituting a new Part 4 (consultation and advice before starting faculty proceedings) which, among other things, provides for Diocesan Advisory Committees to give intending applicants initial advice to assist them in relation to their proposals and to ensure that any necessary consultation with statutory and other bodies is carried out before Committees give their final advice;amending Part 5 (faculty proceedings – parties and commencement), among other things, to take account of provisions of the new Part 4 and to provide for petitions for faculties and associated documents to be publicly available for inspection online;amending Part 6 (public notice) so that public notices relating to faculty petitions include an email address for the diocesan registrar;amending Part 7 (chancellor’s jurisdiction) to provide for statutory and other bodies which have made representations to be notified of the final determination in faculty proceedings;amending Part 8 (archdeacon’s jurisdiction) so that the maximum period of an archdeacon’s licence for temporary minor reordering is increased from 15 months to 24 months;making miscellaneous, minor amendments to Part 9 (special notice of petition, consultation etc.) and Part 10 (objections to faculty petition);amending Part 12 (conduct of hearings) to omit rule 12.3 (other means of giving evidence);amending Part 13 (evidence of non-parties) to clarify the relationship between provisions of that Part and provisions of Part 11 (directions) and to require that where evidence is given under Part 13 on behalf of a body, witness statements must state the extent to which a witness is speaking on behalf of the body or is acting as an expert;amending Part 14 (disposal of proceedings by written representations) so that the chancellor need only consult, rather than obtain the agreement of, the parties before ordering that proceedings are to be determined on consideration of written representations instead of by a hearing;amending Part 16 (injunctions and restoration orders) to correct a cross reference;amending Part 17 (delivery of documents) to take account of documents that are “sent”, as well as those that are served;amending Part 24 (appeals in the provincial courts) so that the Dean need only consult, rather than obtain the agreement of, the parties before ordering that appeal proceedings are to be determined on consideration of written representations instead of by a hearing;amending Part 27 to clarify which orders are interim orders and may therefore be made by the Dean sitting alone;substituting a new Schedule 1 (matters which may be undertaken without a faculty) to increase the number of matters that fall within List A (matters which may be undertaken without a faculty and without the need for consultation) and List B (matters which may be undertaken without a faculty subject to consultation etc.);repealing Schedule 2 (consultation with Historic England, national amenity societies and the local planning authority), as its provisions are now included in simplified form in the new Part 4;amending Schedule 3 (forms) to take account of amendments made to the Rules and to improve their intelligibility and utility.