In English law

English law

English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...

 and the canon law

Canon law

Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

 of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

, a monition, contraction of admonition, is an order

Court order

A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case...

 to a member of the clergy

Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

 to do or refrain from doing a specified act. Other than a rebuke

Rebuke

In English law and the canon law of the Church of England, a rebuke is a censure on a member of the clergy. It is the least severe censure available against clergy of the Church of England, less severe than a monition. A rebuke can be given in person by a bishop or by an ecclesiastical court....

, it is the least severe censure available against clergy of the Church of England. Failure to observe the order is an offence under the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963. A monition can be imposed in person by a bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 or by an ecclesiastical court

Ecclesiastical court

An ecclesiastical court is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages in many areas of Europe these courts had much wider powers than before the development of nation states...

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Historically, monitions of a disciplinary character were used to enforce residence on the holder of a benefice

Benefice

A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...

, or in connection with actions to restrain allegedly unlawful ritual practices under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874

Public Worship Regulation Act 1874

The Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced as a Private Member's Bill by Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait, to limit what he perceived as the growing ritualism of Anglo-Catholicism and the Oxford Movement within the Church...

. Disobedience to such monitions historically entailed the penalties of contempt of court

Contempt of court

Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...

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