Some law offices were mistakenly left out of lockdown rules due to a medieval Pope.
Inner and Middle Temples have claimed independence from the City of London for over 800 years. Yet for six days in 2020, it seems no one told health officials...
Every year, hundreds of budding students undergo an ancient ceremony to receive the coveted title of ‘barrister’.
They don black gowns, bow a lot, before being “called to the degree of the utter bar.” Then they bow some more before the really important bit happens: the champagne reception.
Only four organisations can admit people to the Bar of England and Wales: Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray’s Inn and Lincoln’s Inn.
These Hogwarts houses are a barrister’s professional community. Each Inn provides an excellent library, educational scholarships, cheap(ish) food and - most importantly for this story - offices, known as ‘chambers’, from which many of London’s self-employed barristers work.
So how did a 12th Century Pope make two of the Inns - Inner and Middle Temple - accidentally exempt from London’s Tier 2 COVID restrictions for six days?
The year is 1139. The Knights Templar, a Catholic military order (most famous for their role in the Crusades) had been around for about 20 years. Pope Innocent II wanted to give them his blessing. He issued the decree ‘Omne Datum Optimum’ in which he promised the Knights “guardianship and protection[…] for all time to come.” He also banned:
any ecclesiastic of layman to exhort from the [Knights Templar] any fealty, homage, oaths or other securities, often employed by seculars.1
In other words, the Knights Templar were exempt from all taxes and reported directly to the Pope.2
Later that Century, the Knights Templar built a new English headquarters3 - Temple Church in London (creative name, I know) - along with some outbuildings. They continued to assert their independence, particularly from the City of London that surrounded them.
When the Knights Templar were disbanded, another order, the Knights Hospitaller, took ownership of the church4 and continued to assert these rights. By the 14th Century, two colleges of lawyers had come to occupy the land, which would become the Inner and Middle Temples.5
Henry VIII took the land during the dissolution of the monasteries, but in 1608, James I agreed to hand over the freehold permanently to the lawyers of the Inner and Middle Temples.6 In doing so, he confirmed that they remained independent of the City of London.7
Yet these centuries of tradition faced a new foe in the 19th and 20th Centuries: modern bureaucracy. As successive local government reforms took place in England, the Temples desperately tried to preserve their independence, eventually agreeing to let in the City of London Police in 1857.8
When London’s local government was streamlined further in 1963, the Government decided to codify these two anomalies. This was done by the Temples Order 1971,9 article 3(1) of which provides that:
any functions which are exercisable as respects an inner London borough by the council of the borough by virtue of section 1(6) or 4 of the [London Government Act 1963] shall be exercisable -
as regards the Inner Temple by the Sub-Treasurer; and
as regards the Middle Temple by the Under Treasurer.
In other words, Inner and Middle Temples are treated as local councils in their own right.
There are some exceptions. The City of London is responsible for some functions within the two Inns such as health and education.10 The Temples can voluntarily delegate other functions to the City of London.11 But Inner and Middle Temple collect their own bins.12
Fast forward to late 2020. Boris Johnson’s government is desperately trying (and failing) to avoid a second national lockdown. After imposing a series of local lockdowns across much of the Midlands and the North, each with its own set of laws, in October, the Government rationalised the whole system.
Tier 1,13 Tier 2,14 and Tier 315 were born.
As hospital and intensive care admissions steadily rose in London, on 15 October 2020 the Government announced it would put London into Tier 2 from 17 October.16
New regulations were needed rapidly. But the drafting was, in theory, straightforward. A schedule at the end of each set of regulations listed which areas were in each tier. All that had to be done was amend the existing Tier 2 regulations by adding the names of every council area in London to the schedule.17
So, under the subheading of “Greater London”, they added 33 names: all 32 London boroughs, plus the City of London.18
Spot the problem? Inner and Middle Temples are not part of the City of London. They are local councils in their own right. They had been left off the list.
Fortunately, officials quickly fixed the error. On 22 October, when more local councils were being bumped up a tier, the Government quietly added Inner and Middle Temples to the Tier 2 list. It took effect the following day.19
The only acknowledgement of the mistake was in an explanatory memo, where officials stated that the new regulations included “minor technical drafting and clarification amendments.”20
Who knows what would have happened if someone had been caught at an indoor social gathering in Inner Temple during those six days. I suspect a judge may have given their defence short shrift. But by the letter of the law, between 17 and 22 October 2020, when the rest of London was in Tier 2, Inner and Middle Temples were in Tier 1. Thanks a lot, Pope Innocent.
Read The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (Medium, High and Very High) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1154, reg 3(3)(c) here.
SI 1971/1732
Temples Order 1971, art 5(2)
Temples Order 1971, art 8
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (Medium) (England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1103
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (High) (England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1104
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (Very High) (England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1105
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (High) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1128
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (High) (England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1104, sch 2
SI 2020/1128, reg 2(4)
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (Medium, High and Very High) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1154, reg 3(3)(c)