The Church of Scotland Act 1921 is an Act of the British Parliament, passed in 1921. The purpose of the Act was to settle centuries of dispute between the British Parliament and the Church of Scotland over the Church's independence in spiritual matters. The passing of the Act saw the British Parliament recognise the Church's independence in spiritual matters. It is the only Act of Parliment in British history to concede that Parliament does not have the right to set law on a particular matter.

Background

The Church of Scotland was established as a Presbyterian church, with Presbyterianism the state religion of Scotland. As the fundamentals of Presbyterianism reject the hierarchial structure of other churches, the Church of Scotland was not subject to state control. This was in contrast to the Church of England, where the British monarch is Supreme Governor, and the British government appoints bishops. Despite this, the British government and the courts had, from time to time, imposed rulings on the Church of Scotland, either by forcing the appointment of bishops, or ruling that resolutions of the Church were illegal. Indeed, some of these rulings caused splits in the Church, and led to the formation of the Free Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland.

Passing of the Act

By the 1920s however, the mood in Parliament had changed. The British government passed the Church of Scotland Act to give the Church independence over the "right and power to adjudicate finally in all matters of doctrine, worship and government and discipline in the Church, including the right to determine all questions concerning membership of its Courts and the mode of election of its office bearers".

When legislating for Scotland since the passing of the Act, the British Parliament has to consider whether the Church of Scotland is to be excluded from the provisions. Examples included the passing of the Scotland Act 1998, which had to be worded not to infringe on the independence of the Church, and prevent the Scottish Parliament repealing the Church of Scotland Act. Also during the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998, an amendment was proposed when the bill was passing thought the House of Lords to exclude the Church of Scotland from some of the provisions. In the end, this was not deemed necessary.

See also

• Religion in the United Kingdom