SCHEDULE 1The Dioceses Commission
Constitution and Membership
1
The Commission shall consist of a person to be known as “the Chair”, a person to be known as “the Vice-Chair” and eight other members.
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(1)
The Chair and Vice-Chair shall be appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York acting jointly in the following manner—
(a)
the Chair shall be appointed with the approval of the General Synod, and
(b)
the Vice-Chair shall be appointed from among the members of the House of Clergy and the House of Laity of the General Synod.
(2)
Before appointing a lay person to be the Chair the Archbishops shall satisfy themselves that that person is an actual communicant within the meaning of rule 54(1) of the Church Representation Rules contained in Schedule 3 to the Synodical Government Measure 1969.
3
Four members of the Commission shall be elected by the General Synod from among its members and four members shall be appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Church of England either from among the members of the Synod or otherwise.
4
A person shall not be qualified for membership of the Commission who is a member of the Archbishops' Council, the Church Commissioners, their Assets Committee, their Audit Committee or any other committee of the Commissioners constituted by the Board of Governors or otherwise established under section 5(4) of the Church Commissioners Measure 1947 (10 & 11 Geo 6 No. 2) or any joint committee of the Commissioners and the Archbishops' Council appointed under that section.
5
A person who ceases to be qualified for membership of the Commission shall forthwith vacate the office to which that person was appointed except that a member who is a member of the General Synod may continue to act as a member of the Commission so long as that person is entitled to act during a period of its dissolution under paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 2 to the Synodical Government Measure 1969 (1969 No. 2).
6
Subject to paragraph 7 below, the members of the Commission shall take office on the first day of May immediately following the termination of the period of office of the persons in whose place those persons were appointed or elected and shall hold office until the thirtieth day of April following the year in which the General Synod is next dissolved and a new Synod comes into being.
7
The first appointments and elections of the members of the Commission shall take place as soon as practicable after the coming into force of section 2(2) above and—
(a)
they shall take immediate effect, and
(b)
the members shall hold office until the date specified in paragraph 6 above, except that if the period which elapses between the coming into force of section 2(2) above and that date is less than three years, they shall hold office until the thirtieth day of April following the year in which the second subsequent dissolution of the General Synod occurs and the new Synod comes into being following that dissolution.
8
Any member of the Commission shall on ceasing to hold office be eligible for re-appointment or re-election unless that person became a member by virtue of re-appointment or re-election under this paragraph or appointment under paragraph 9 below following re-election under this paragraph.
9
Where a member of the Commission elected by the General Synod under paragraph 3 above has, following the dissolution of the Synod, not been re-elected to the new Synod, that person may be appointed by the Appointments Committee as a member and shall hold office until the thirtieth day of April following the year in which the new Synod comes into being.
Casual Vacancies
10
Where a casual vacancy occurs among the members of the Commission appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York under paragraph 2 above the Archbishops shall appoint a person from among the members of the House of Clergy and House of Laity to fill the vacancy and where a casual vacancy occurs among the members appointed by the Appointments Committee under paragraph 3 above the Committee may appoint a person to fill the vacancy.
11
Where a casual vacancy occurs among the members of the Commission elected by the General Synod, the General Synod may elect one of the members of the General Synod to fill the vacancy.
12
Any person appointed or elected to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office only for the unexpired portion of the term of office of the person in whose place that person was appointed or elected, but shall be eligible for re-appointment or re-election in accordance with paragraph 8 above.
Committees
13
The Commission shall have power to appoint such committees and may delegate to them such functions as it thinks fit.
Proceedings
14
The quorum of the Commission shall be five members.
15
Subject to paragraph 16 below the Chair, if present, shall preside over meetings but—
(a)
if the Chair is not present on any occasion, the Vice-Chair shall preside,
(b)
if neither the Chair nor the Vice-Chair is present on any occasion, the Commission shall choose another member to preside, and
(c)
either the Chair or Vice-Chair may decline to preside on any occasion when the Chair or Vice-Chair, as the case may be, considers it preferable not to do so, in which case sub-paragraph (b) above shall apply.
16
No person shall preside on any occasion when the Commission is considering proposals affecting any diocese if that person is an elected member of the General Synod for that diocese or resides or holds any office of the Church of England in that diocese.
17
The business of the Commission shall be decided by a majority of the members present and voting thereon and, in the event of an equal division of votes, the person presiding shall have a second or casting vote.
18
Subject to paragraph 14 above the Commission may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership.
19
Subject to the preceding provisions of this Schedule and to any other provision of this Measure, the Commission shall have power to regulate its own procedure.