Legal Systems of Scottish Churches Solicitors and counsel in Scotland receive little training in the information systems of the Churches in Scotland, and it is a curious experience for them to advise on church law or appear in ecclesiastical courts, tribunals or commissions. Following well-received seminars on the Church of Scotland's legal system in 2007, this book was suggested to help further to meet that aim. Contributions were also invited from the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, the book encompasses chapters on the various Churches' polity, processes and judidical procedures, including the judicial Commissions of the Church of Scotland and its disciplinary processes. This book provides a welcome introduction or source of reference for all those who work and hold positions of responsibility within Churches, for those preparing for ministry or legal practice, and for practitioners called upon to appear before Church courts. Those chapters introducing and outlining the law and practice of the Church of Scotland have been written by the senior office-bearers of the General Assembly. A full description of the systems of the Scottish Episcopal Church makes the volume equally useful within that denomination, and there is also a valuable note from the Roman Catholic Church. Includes a Foreword by Carol Hope, Convenor of the Legal Questions Committee of the Church of Scotland. Contents: - Presbyterian Governance - Commissions and Judicial Bodies - Procedure in Church Courts - The Presbyterial Commission: Law and Practice - Scottish Episcopal Church: Polity, Law and Governance - Scottish Episcopal Church: Judicial Procedures I - General - Scottish Episcopal Church: Judicial Procedures II - Clergy Discipline, Offences and Accusations (Canon 54) - A Note on Roman Catholic Canon Law Appendix: Standing Orders of the General Assembly (excerpt) A Bibliography and an Index are also included. Edited by Marjory A MacLean (Depute Clerk, General Assembly of the Church of Scotland) DUNDEE UNIVERSITY PRESS [DUP logo]