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Abstract
PUNISH OUR TRESPASSES! AN EXAMINATION OF PRIVATE TRIBUNAL LAW AS APPLIED IN THE ANGLICAN CHURCH'S TRIAL OF BISHOP DONALD SHEARMAN
Howard Munro
The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, the Most Rev. Dr Phillip Aspinall, said recently that 'the Canons of the church are not simply a bound volume which occupies space on the bookshelves' but are there to guide the church in dealing with allegations of serious misconduct. This paper analyses the standard of procedural justice applied by an ecclesiastical tribunal set up by Dr Aspinall to try retired Bishop Donald Shearman. What the Shearman case above all reveals is the legal vulnerability of unrepresented accused persons before ecclesiastical courts and the adverse consequences that follow for accused persons who lack the financial means to defend themselves.
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