COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE LANDS TRIBUNAL
Mr George Bartlett QC
RA622004
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
LORD JUSTICE JACOB
and
LORD JUSTICE NEUBERGER
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GALLAGHER |
Appellant |
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CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS |
Respondent |
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Mr Daniel Kolinsky (instructed by Solicitors Office (Inland Revenue)) for the Respondent
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Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Neuberger :
Introduction
"11.— (1) A hereditament is exempt to the extent that it consists of any of the following—
(a) a place of public religious worship which belongs to the Church of England or the Church in Wales … or is for the time being certified as required by law as a place of religious worship;
(b) a church hall, chapel hall or similar building used in connection with a place falling within paragraph (a) above for the purposes of the organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship in that place.
(2) A hereditament is exempt to the extent that it—
(a) is occupied by an organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship in a place falling within sub-paragraph (1)(a) above, and
(b) is used for carrying out administrative or other activities relating to the organisation of the conduct of public religious worship in such a place."
The relevant facts
The Stake Centre
The Temple
"7.— (2) This section applies to the following hereditaments, that is to say, —
(a) a place of public religious worship which belongs to the Church of England or the Church in Wales … or are for the time being certified as required by law as places of religious worship, and
(b) any church hall, chapel hall or similar building used in connection with any such place of public religious worship, and so used for the purposes of the organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship in that place…"
"I find it impossible… to hold that the words "places of public religious worship" includes places which, though from the worshippers' point of view they were public as opposed to domestic, yet in the more ordinary sense were not public since the public was excluded…
Furthermore, it is less likely on general grounds that Parliament intended to give exemption to religious services that exclude the public, since exemptions from rating, though not necessarily consistent, show a general pattern of intention to benefit those activities which are for the good of the general public. All religious services that open their doors to the public may, in an age of religious tolerance, claim to perform some spiritual service to the general public…
I do not find anything unreasonable in denying to the Mormon Church the public benefit of an exemption of its Temple, to which it will not allow the public to have access for worship, while according such exemption to its many chapels which, like those of other denominations, do admit the public."
"The qualification here, in my judgment, is a purely physical one, so that those parts of a hereditament that are neither a place of public religious worship nor a church hall etc are excluded from the exemption. But the fact that, for instance, a church is used from time to time for secular concerts or a church hall is let out for functions unconnected with the church would not lead to a reduction of the relief that is accorded. The church would still be a church and a church hall would still be a church hall and, to the extent that a hereditament physically comprised one or both of these, it would 'consist' of it or them for the purposes of the exemption."
i) It is a church hall, chapel hall or similar building;ii) It is used in connection with a place of public worship;
iii) It is so used for the purposes of the organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship in that place.
While there is force in Mr Kolinsky's point that it is better to consider the provision as a composite whole, I am prepared to consider the issue in the way suggested on behalf of the Appellant. Whichever approach one adopts (not surprisingly) produces the same answer.
"The short answer is that this temple is not a church hall, chapel hall, nor a similar building. It is not in the least on the same footing as a church hall or chapel hall. It is a very sacred sanctuary, quite different from a building of that category."
"It will be observed that the word 'Organisation' is used in two quite different senses – first to mean the body constituted for the particular purposes set out and secondly to mean the process of making arrangements for or carrying into effect those particular provisions – although this does not, I think, give rise to any difficulty. What is important, in my view, is that the activities must be ones relating to the 'organisation' of the conduct of public religious worship and not just to the conduct of public religious worship. The fact that it is administrative activities that are just singled out for mention emphasises the nature of the exemption that is given. The activities may be administrative or they may be other activities: but they must be activities relating to the organisation of the conduct of worship".
"The activities in the Temple are not, except perhaps to a very limited extent, ones that are carried out in order to assist in organising the conduct of worship in the Stake Centre or other chapels. The activities are the performance of sacred ordinance in the Temple itself and activities ancillary to these."
The Missionary Training Centre
"without… attempting a complete definition, I think that in essence a church [hall] or chapel hall is a hall, often with other rooms and ancillary accommodation, which is used for functions and meetings by the congregation, and at times also by others, for the conduct of church business and sometime for wider community purposes that reflect the nature and purposes of the ecclesiastical body that is in occupation. It is not itself a place of worship."
The Patrons Services Building
The Grounds Building and the Patrons' Accommodation
Conclusion
Lord Justice Jacob
Lord Justice Mummery