header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
20 June 2013 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7565 / Categories: Features , Employment
printer mail-detail

Ever increasing circles

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
hires_waterripple

Ian Smith reports on the secular, spiritual & circular nature of employment law

We have been graced this last month with two decisions by the Supreme Court on employment matters. Both concerned relatively esoteric areas of the law, but ones in which decisions at the highest level are welcome.

Church matters

Employment law sometimes seems to develop in large, lazy circles. The direction of that development in relation to the legal status of religious ministers has in recent years been towards the extension of employment status, in spite of a couple of older authorities pointing away from such status which looked increasingly anomalous (though not actually reversed). The decision of the Supreme Court (by a 4-1 majority) in President of the Methodist Conference v Preston [2013] UKSC 29 has now reversed that direction and taken us back to what originally appeared to be the case, namely that: (i) there is no rule against employment status for a minister; (ii) there is no presumption against it; but (iii) likewise it is impossible to generalise

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Seddons GSC—Ben Marks

Seddons GSC—Ben Marks

Partner joins residential real estate team

Winckworth Sherwood—Shazia Bashir

Winckworth Sherwood—Shazia Bashir

Social housing team announces partner appointment

University of Manchester: The LLM driving tech-focused career growth

University of Manchester: The LLM driving tech-focused career growth

Manchester’s online LLM has accelerated career progression for its graduates

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: 40 years on, has PACE lost its edge?
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
NLJ this week: Stress-testing the City
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
NLJ this week: How sure is ‘sure’ enough?
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
NLJ this week: A deferred prosecution reprieve
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
NLJ this week: Mandelson, Epstein & the court of popular opinion
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll