Faculties

Faculties, Court of. A Faculty is a privilege or special dispensation granted to anyone by favour and indulgence, authorising him to do that which by strict law he could not do - for example, to marry without the previous publication of banns; to hold two or more ecclesiastical livings at the same time, and the like. A faculty is very frequently required and granted for special alteration in the church or churchyard (sec. 32 and 33 Vic, c 94). The Court of Faculties is a jurisdiction or tribunal belonging to the archbishop. It does not hold pleas in any suits, but creates rights to pews, monuments, and particular places and modes of burial. It has also various powers in granting such licences as are above referred to.