ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS 
LEGAL QUESTIONS COMMITTEE 
APPENDIX V 
Royal Marriages and Succession to the Crown (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 
The following is the text of a letter sent to MPs of Scottish Constituencies, and to the Justice Secretary and the Scottish Secretary, on the publication earlier this year of the above Bill.  This is referred to in section 1 of the Committee’s Report, in the Volume of Reports. 
Our Ref: Gcorresp/003 XXXX 2009 
All MPs for Scottish Constituencies 
Sponsors of Royal Marriages and Succession to the Crown (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2008-09 
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, Lord Chancellor Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Scotland 
Dear Member of Parliament, 
We write in response to the publication of the Royal Marriages and Succession to the Crown (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2008-09. The Church of Scotland welcomes the moves to remove discrimination on grounds of gender or religion in the Act of Settlement. Such discrimination has no place within a modern United Kingdom. 
The role of the monarch in relation to the Church of Scotland is contained within the Accession Oath. We warmly welcome the annual reaffirmation of that Oath in Her Majesty’s Letter to the General Assembly. We hope that the support of the Crown for the Church and her work will continue to be so positive. 
We do, however, recognise that there are constitutional implications of such legislation. The relationship between Church and State is important to both parties and we hope that both will continue to treasure it. We hope that this will not be inadvertently affected through constitutional change, and that the Bill is therefore not seen as an encouragement of the further secularizing of our society. 
This Bill is to be welcomed for its anti-discriminatory and anti-sectarian stance. 
Yours sincerely, 
Rev Ian Galloway Miss Carole Hope 
Convener, Church and Society Council Convener, Legal Questions Committee