Disciplinary Tribunal Member

Vacancies - Disciplinary Tribunal of the Church in Wales

The Disciplinary Tribunal of the Church in Wales considers allegations of misconduct against clergy, and certain lay officers, of the Church in Wales. Its powers are set out in Chapter IX of the Constitution of the Church in Wales.

The Tribunal consists of a pool of up to 17 members, from which three persons are selected to form a panel to consider an individual case. Each panel includes one legally-qualified member as chair, one ordained cleric and one lay person.

There are a number of vacancies (either current, or arising shortly) for lay members of the Tribunal.

The vacancies include one vacancy for a legally-qualified member. This must be either a solicitor or a barrister who is a communicant member of the Church in Wales (or a church in communion with it). The legally-qualified members (a) undertake preliminary adjudication of referrals (a written report on whether the referral meets the relevant thresholds to go forward to a full hearing) and (b) chair full Tribunal hearings.

There are two vacancies for lay members who have accredited medical or counselling qualifications and two further vacancies for lay members without reference to specific qualifications.

The workload of the Tribunal varies from year-to-year, but lay members can expect to be called for 2-5 hearings over the totality of a five-year term of office. Each hearing usually lasts either a half day or a whole day. Most hearings take place in person in Cardiff, though there is provision to meet online in certain cases.

In addition, legally-qualified members can expect to be asked to undertake approximately 2 preliminary adjudications per year.

All members’ expenses are reimbursed. Legally-qualified members receive a fee commensurate with the statutory fees payable to ecclesiastical judges in the Church of England.

All members should be comfortable reading and digesting evidence and legal submissions, and be effective communicators with ability to think clearly and logically.

Those interested in taking up one of these roles should send a brief CV and a covering email setting out their reasons for their interest in the role to hr@cinw.org.uk by Friday 13 February.

An informal discussion about the roles can be arranged with the Registrar of the Tribunal by emailing hr@cinw.org.uk.