Arches, Court of [fr. curia de arcubus, Lat.], a court of appeal belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the judge of which is called the Dean of the Arches, because his Court was anciently held in the church of Saint Mary-le-Bow (Sancta Maria de arcubus), so named from the steeple, which is raised upon pillars, built archwise. It was formerly held, as also were the other principal Spiritual Courts, in the hall belonging to the College of Civilians, commonly called Doctors' Commons. It is now held at the Church House, Westminster. Its proper jurisdiction is only over the 13 peculiar parishes belonging to the Archbishop in London, but the office of Dean of the Arches having been for a long time united to that of the Archbishiop's Official Principal, the Dean of the Arches, in right of such added office, receives and determines appeals from the sentences of all Inferior Ecclesiastical Courts within the province. There was formerly an appeal to the king in Chancery, or to a Court of Delegates, appointed under the Great Seal by 25 Hen. 8, c. 19, as supreme head of the English Church, instead of to the Bishop of Rome, who originally exercised the jurisdiction; but the Judicial Committee Acts of 1832 and 1833 (2 & 3 Wm. 4, c. 92, and 3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 41), Chitty's Statutes, tit. 'Privy Council,' provided that the appeal should be to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Wakeford v. Bishop of Lincoln, (1921) 1 AC 813. Consult Phillimore's Ecclesiastical Law; Wheeler's Privy Council Law. The jurisdiction of the Court in testamentary matters was transferred to the Court of Probate (now the Probate Division) by the Court of Probate Act, 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c. 77). The Judicature Act, 1925, s. 20, vests the jurisdiction of 1857 in the present Court.
By the Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 85), provision was made for the appointment of 'a judge of the Provincial Courts of Canterbury and York,' and it was further provided that whenever a vacancy should occur in the office of Official Principal of the Arches Court of Canterbury, this new judge should become ex-officio such Official Principal, and all proceedings thereafter taken before the judge in relation to mattes arising within the province of Canterbury should be deemed to be taken [see Dale's Case, (1881) 6 QBD 376] in the Arches Court of Canterbury. See PUBLIC WORSHIP REGULATION ACT, 1874.
View Judgments Citing this Phrase View Acts Citing this Phrase