Mrs Percy was a minister in the church. She appealed rejection of her claim for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.
Held: the court considered whether Ms Percy was employed by the Board of National Mission in terms of a ‘contract personally to execute any work or labour’. After reviewing the authorities the Lord President enunciated a principle that where an appointment was made to a recognised form of ministry within the Church of Scotland, and where the duties of that ministry were essentially spiritual, it was to be presumed there was no intention that the arrangements made with the minister would give rise to obligations enforceable in the civil law. The presumption was rebuttable. In the present case the Lord President was not persuaded the parties intended to create relations enforceable in the civil courts. There was a rebuttable presumption that: ‘where the appointment was being made to a recognised form of ministry within the Church and where the duties of that ministry would be essentially spiritual, there would be no intention that the arrangements made with the minister would give rise to obligations enforceable in the civil law.’
Judges:
Lord President and Lord Cameron of Lochbroom and Lord Caplan
Citations:
[2001] ScotCS 65, 2001 SC 757
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Cited by:
Appeal from – Percy v Church of Scotland Board of National Mission HL 15-Dec-2005
The claimant appealed after her claim for sex discrimination had failed. She had been dismissed from her position an associate minister of the church. The court had found that it had no jurisdiction, saying that her appointment was not an . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Discrimination, Employment, Ecclesiastical
Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.169070