§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they consider that the curates of the Church of England are protected against sex discrimination in employment by European Community law, even though they are not in a contractual relationship with the Church of England.
§ Baroness BlackstoneThe noble and learned Lord will be aware that this is a complex matter and that it is ultimately for the European Court of Justice to rule on the interpretation of European Community law. The directives covering sex discrimination are worded in very general terms. The Court of Appeal has recently confirmed that a curate holds an ecclesiastical office under the law of the Church of England and has no contract of any kind. On balance, therefore, the Government consider it likely on the current state of the law that a curate is not a worker falling within the Equal Treatment Directive (76/207/EEC).