Sir James Munby - The secular judiciary in England and Wales

Sir James Munby, Head of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales

In 2013 Sir James Munby gave a speech in which he said that the law of England and Wales is secular, and that Christianity no longer informs its morality or values. He said that "the days are past when the business of judges was the enforcement of morals or religious beliefs."

The Radio 4 series 'Beyond Belief' explores the place of religion and faith in today's complex world and in an episode 'Christianity and the Law', Ernie Rea was joined by Sir Mark Hedley, Joshua Rozenberg and David McIlroy to discuss the relationship between Christianity and the Law. Listen in full here.

The debate centred around the Keynote Address made by Sir James Munby in October 29 2013 here. He said:

"Happily for us, the days are past when the business of the judges was the enforcement of morals or religious belief. That was a battle fought out in the nineteenth century between John Stuart Mill and Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (Stephen J) and in the middle of the last century between Professor Herbert Hart and Sir Patrick Devlin (Devlin J). The philosophers had the better of the argument, and rightly so.