Presbyterian Church Act 1896

Presbyterian Church Act 1896

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania

Whereas by the Act of Parliament 42 Victoriæ No. 7, intituled "An Act to regulate the Affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania", and hereinafter called "the said Act", it was provided that it should be lawful for any body or section of the Presbyterian denomination in the Colony of Tasmania to be admitted into union with the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania:
And whereas the section of the Presbyterian denomination in Tasmania which was theretofore called "The Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania", has been admitted in pursuance of the provisions in that behalf contained in the said Act into union with the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, hereinafter called "the said Church", and it has therefore become desirable and expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to the said Church:

Be it therefore enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

1.   Short title

This Act may be cited as the Presbyterian Church Act 1896 .

2.   Repeal

[Section 2 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ]The Acts set forth in the schedule are hereby severally repealed, but such repeal shall not affect anything lawfully done in pursuance of any of the provisions contained in any of the repealed Acts, or any right thereby conferred upon any persons, or acquired by any persons thereunder; and all property declared by any of the repealed Acts to be vested in any trustees to be appointed in pursuance of any of the provisions thereof, or which since the passing of any of the repealed Acts has become vested in any trustees in pursuance of any provision in that behalf contained in any of the repealed Acts, or which has in any other way become vested in them as such trustees, is hereby vested in the trustees appointed by this Act, but subject to the provisions of this Act relating to the acquisition and retention and disposal of property by or on behalf of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania.

3.   Interpretation

The expression Governing Authority shall mean the General Assembly or other the Supreme Judicatory of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania however designated as the same shall be from time to time constituted in accordance with the internal laws and usages of the said Church.

4.   Acts of Governing Authority to have force of law

[Section 4 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ]It shall be lawful for the Governing Authority to enact, amend, and repeal laws, rules, and regulations for the government of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, and for the management of the property of the Church; and all such laws, rules, and regulations, so far as the same shall be consistent with law and the provisions of this Act, shall be deemed to be incorporated with this Act, and shall be of the same force and effect as if the same were expressly enacted herein.

5.   Certified copy of law, rule, &c., to be evidence

A copy of any law, rule, regulation, act, or resolution of the Governing Authority purporting to be certified by the Moderator or Clerk of the Governing Authority to be a true copy of such law, rule, regulation, act, or resolution, shall be received in all courts and in all legal proceedings whatever as prima facie evidence of such law, rule, regulation, act, or resolution, and of the same having been duly made; and the Clerk of the Governing Authority is hereby empowered and required to supply upon demand and the payment of a fee of five shillings a certified copy of any such law, rule, regulation, or resolution to every person who shall apply to him for it.

6.   No act of Governing Authority vitiated by informality in elections

No act or resolution of the Governing Authority shall be vitiated by reason of any informality in the mode of election, or the non-election of any member, or the absence of any members who may have been elected or summoned.

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8.   Property in trust for Church may be vested in Church trustees

The Governing Authority may, by act or resolution, direct that any property which may at any time be vested in any person or persons upon trust for the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, or for any congregation of the said Church, or for the support of the Minister or the maintenance of the ordinances of any congregation of the said Church, shall be vested in the trustees of the property of the said Church: Provided always, that in the case of any property vested in any person or persons upon trust for the said Church, the consent of the person or the majority of the persons acting in the trust, and in the case of any property vested in any person or persons upon trust for any congregation of the said Church, or for the support of the Minister or the maintenance of the ordinances of any congregation of the said Church, the consent of two-thirds of the members of the congregation present at a meeting duly summoned for that purpose and competent as a quorum to transact business shall be previously obtained; and upon the registration of such act or resolution in the office of the Registrar of Deeds or in the office of the Recorder of Titles, as the case may be, together with a certificate signed by the Moderator of the Governing Authority, or such other person as the Governing Authority may appoint, that the proper consent has been obtained, or that no consent is necessary, the property mentioned in such act or resolution shall vest accordingly: Provided also, that the said trustees shall hold and manage such property upon the special trusts, if any, affecting the same, and with and subject to the special powers, provisoes, and declarations, if any, applicable thereto. And, save as aforesaid, the said property shall be held, managed, and dealt with in such manner in all respects as the Governing Authority may, by act or resolution, direct.

9.   Where congregation has ceased to exist, Governing Authority may require trustees to convey

In every case in which any real or personal property is vested in any trustee or trustees for the benefit of any congregation, or for the support of the Minister or the maintenance of the ordinances of any congregation, and such congregation has never existed or has ceased for a period of more than a year to assemble for religious services, the Governing Authority may by act or resolution require such trustee or trustees as aforesaid to convey all the real and personal property so vested in them as aforesaid to the trustees of the property of the said Church; and the trustee or trustees in whom such real or personal property is so vested shall thereupon convey and assign the same to the trustees of the property of the said Church.

10.   Release to trustees

[Section 10 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ]Every such act or resolution as is mentioned in sections eight and nine shall operate as a full release to the person or persons in whom such real or personal property was vested prior to the passing of such act or resolution.

11.   Power of Governing Authority to declare the trusts of property vested in the trustees

[Section 11 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ]All lands, hereditaments, rights, moneys, goods, and chattels whatsoever vested in any such trustees as aforesaid shall be by them applied in such manner and for such purposes as the Governing Authority shall direct, unless special trusts were declared by the instrument or writing by means of which any such lands, hereditaments, rights, moneys, goods, or chattels shall have become vested in the original trustees thereof, or by some other instrument or writing relating thereto, and then the same shall be by them applied in accordance with the directions contained in such instrument or writing so far as the same shall extend.

12.   Trust property subject to Land Titles Act 1980

[Section 12 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ][Section 12 Amended by No. 19 of 1980, s. 171 and Sched. 1, Pt. 2 ]In the case of any property of the said Church which now is or hereafter may be subject to the provisions of the Land Titles Act 1980 , the act or resolution of the Governing Authority appointing any trustee or trustees of such property may be registered in the office of the Recorder of Titles in like manner as is provided by the Land Titles Act 1980 for the registration of instruments, and upon the registration of such act or resolution the provisions of section seven shall apply to such property.

13.   Powers to sell, lease, &c.

[Section 13 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ]It shall be lawful for the Governing Authority, subject to the special trusts, if any, affecting the same, and subject to the special powers, provisoes, and declarations, if any, applicable thereto, by act or resolution, to direct the sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, or other disposal of any lands now vested or which may hereafter become vested in any such trustees as aforesaid, on such terms and in such manner as the Governing Authority thinks fit; and the said trustees shall thereupon have full power to do, enter into, and execute all necessary acts, deeds, leases, mortgages, contracts, and assurances for carrying into legal effect any such sale, lease, exchange, or disposal; and shall hold, manage, and deal with the moneys arising from any such sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, or disposal, and shall hold, manage, and deal with any lands so taken in exchange upon the trusts (if any) declared by the instrument affecting the land sold, leased, mortgaged, or taken in exchange as aforesaid, and if there are no such trusts, then in such manner as the Governing Authority may, by act or resolution, direct: Provided always, that this section shall not be deemed to authorize the sale or lease or other disposal of any cemetery or place for the interment of the dead which may belong to the said Church or be vested in any person or persons in trust for the said Church.

14.   Debentures of said Presbyterian Church

All debentures or moneys secured to be paid or which have been paid to the Church of Scotland by the State Aid Commutation Act , or any other Act of the Parliament of Tasmania, are by this Act secured to the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania; and the expression Governing Authority, as applied in the State Aid Commutation Act to the Church of Scotland, shall hereafter for the purposes of the last-mentioned Act mean the Governing Authority of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania.

15.   Debentures of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania

All debentures or moneys secured to be paid or which have been paid to the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania by the State Aid Commutation Act , or any other Act of the Parliament of Tasmania, are by this Act secured to the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania; and the expression Governing Authority as applied in the State Aid Commutation Act to the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania shall hereafter, for the purposes of the last-mentioned Act, mean the Governing Authority of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania: Provided always that the control and disposal by the Governing Authority of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania of all the debentures and other moneys mentioned in this section shall be subject to and in accordance with the provisions in that behalf contained in the resolutions agreed to in Conference by the Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania, and the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, and afterwards adopted by the said Synod and the said Presbytery in Conference on the eighteenth day of March in the present year, as the basis of the union of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania with the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania.

16.   Property held in trust for congregations of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania

All and every the lands, hereditaments, rights, moneys, goods, and chattels which at the date of the said union of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania with the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania were held in trust for any one or more of the congregations belonging to and forming part of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania shall continue to be held by the same trustees in whom such lands, hereditaments, rights, moneys, goods, and chattels were vested, and their successors in trust for the same congregation or congregations respectively, but subject hereafter to the provisions of this Act; and all property, real or personal, which now is or hereafter shall be bequeathed, devised, held, or secured by any will or deed or other instrument to the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania shall hereafter be deemed to be secured by such will or deed or other instrument to the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, and shall be subject to the provisions of this Act: Provided always, that any property real or personal which at the date of the said union of the said Churches was secured by any deed, or will, or other instrument, to the Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania shall continue to be held by the person or persons in whom the same was then vested, or by the successor or successors of such person or persons, upon trust for the several congregations which at the date of the said union of the said Churches constituted the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania, in the same shares and proportions for such congregations respectively; and if any one or more of those congregations shall at any time hereafter be dissolved or otherwise cease to exist, the share of each such congregation as last aforesaid in any such property as last aforesaid shall thereafter be held by the person or persons in whom the same shall from time to time be vested upon trust for the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania.

17.   Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania may meet for special purpose

[Section 17 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ]It shall be lawful for the members of the Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania as the same was constituted at the date of the union of that Church with the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, or may hereafter be constituted in accordance with the laws and usages of the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania to meet as such Presbytery for the purpose of administering any real or personal property which the said Presbytery was by the resolutions which were adopted by the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania and the said Presbytery in Conference, as mentioned in section fifteen , authorized to administer until the dissolution of the said Presbytery, and to convey or transfer all such real and personal property, or authorize and cause the same to be conveyed and transferred, in such proportions as the said Presbytery shall see fit, to the respective trustees of the several congregations previously constituting the Free Church of Scotland in Tasmania, and thereafter to dissolve itself as provided in the said resolutions.

18.   Union with other Presbyterian Churches of Australasia

[Section 18 Amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 5 ]It shall be lawful for the Governing Authority of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania at any time to effect an union of the said Church with any one or more of the Presbyterian Churches in any one or more of the Australasian States upon such terms and conditions as the said Governing Authority shall determine; and notice of the consummation of such union published in the Gazette, and purporting to be signed by the Moderator of the said Governing Authority, shall be prima facie evidence of such union having been effected, and of all other facts therein stated: Provided always, that all and every the lands, hereditaments, rights, moneys, goods, and chattels of the said Church and of each of the congregations belonging to the said Church shall continue to be held by the person or persons in whom the same shall then or may thereafter be vested in trust for the said Church and the several congregations and Ministers belonging thereto, upon the same trusts and in the same manner in every respect as if such union had not been effected, and shall continue to be subject to the provisions of this Act.

SCHEDULE 1 - Repeal

PART 1

PART 2