Ecclesiastical court

An ecclesiastical court (also called "Court Christian") 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 as they were experts in interpreting canon law the basis of which was the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian which is considered the source of the civil law legal tradition.

Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic courts are governed by the Code of Canon Law in the case of the Western Church (Latin or Roman Rite), and the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches in the case of the Eastern Church (Byzantine, Ukrainian, Maronite, Melkite, etc., Rites). Both systems of canon law recently underwent massive revisions, resulting in the new code for the Latin Rite in 1983, and the compilation for the first time of the Eastern Rite Code in 1991.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Code of Canon Law - Latin or Roman Rite - Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches - Eastern Church - 1983 - 1991

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Briefly, in each diocese the bishop (or "eparch" in the Eastern Rites) is the legislator, administrator and judge: he makes the laws (in accord with the Code for his rite), administers them, and acts as the judge for his diocese. This last function is normally executed through a priest delegated for this job, whose title is either judicial vicar or officialis ("officialis" is the older title; "judicial vicar" emphasizes that he is the delegate, or vicar, of the bishop for judicial matters).

Related Topics:
Diocese - Bishop - Eparch - Judge - Priest

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The diocesan court usually consists of the judicial vicar and two judges who act as a panel. All are normally priests who are doctors, or at least licentiates, of Canon Law. (In large dioceses, there may be a number of vice-officiales who preside over several panels of judges; in smaller dioceses, a single judge with two lay "assessors" may try cases.)

Related Topics:
Doctor - Licentiate - Canon Law

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They are assisted by the promoter of justice, who is a priest and canon lawyer whose job is to safeguard the "public good" (acting as something of a watchdog) and to do the equivalent of prosecuting those accused of crimes, and the defender of the bond, whose job is to find reasons why a marriage is valid in cases of alleged nullity (annulment cases are the most common), and why an ordination is valid in the rare cases of alleged nullity of Holy Orders. Also present are the advocates of the parties and notaries.

Related Topics:
Marriage - Annulment - Ordination - Holy Orders

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The case does not follow the adversarial system. Based on the same Roman civil law that is behind much European law (rather than the English Common Law), the procedure of a canonical court is more akin to an inquest, with the judges leading the investigation. There is no presumption of guilt or innocence, for instance, but there are presumptions of the validity of an act unless proven otherwise.

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The court of the diocese, for the original trial of the case, is called the "court of first instance." "Second instance" is the appeal, which is automatic for some kinds of cases (for instance, when a marriage is found to be null), and is normally taken to the tribunal of the metropolitan -- that is, the archbishop of the nearby archdiocese that has seniority over the region, or "province," which is a cluster of smaller dioceses. Courts of first instance within an archdiocese itself appeal their cases to the metropolitan tribunal of some other archdiocese with which the original archbishop has made an arrangement (so appeals of trials originating in an archdiocese are not heard in that same archdiocese).

Related Topics:
Appeal - Metropolitan - Archbishop - Archdiocese - Province

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Cases are ultimately appealed to Rome, normally to the Rota, a court of 15 judges, called auditors, who take cases in panels of three and serve as the final arbiters of most cases. The highest court, the Apostolic Signatura, is a panel of five cardinals who serve as the judges. It is a lawyer's court: it resolves disputes between congregations over jurisdiction, handles complaints of corruption against judges of the Rota, and certain other highly specialized matters, and so rarely has contact with typical ecclesiastical cases (like marriage annulments).

Related Topics:
Rome - Rota - Apostolic Signatura - Cardinal

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While the courts naturally have to interpret and apply the law, their interpretation is not final. That belongs to one of the congregations of the Vatican -- the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for the Clergy, etc., which the Pope invested with the power to authentically interpret his laws. All courts are ultimately bound to follow their interpretations.

Related Topics:
Congregation - Vatican - Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - Congregation for the Clergy - Pope

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All of the above applies to the "external forum" -- that is, matters which are provable in some public way (as in a marriage). Matters which take place only within the context of confidentiality (as in the Sacrament of Penance, also called the Sacrament of Confession, or in spiritual direction and counseling) are said to be of the "internal forum." These matters follow what is technically a judicial path, though it would be unrecognizable to most people familiar with standard legal systems. Such a matter arising during confession, for instance, would be handled directly by the priest hearing the confession or, if he lacks authority (for instance, to lift an excommunication), he would create an anonymous petition (using pseudonyms) to obtain permission from the Apostolic Penitentiary, a cardinal specially delegated by the Pope to handle such matters.

Related Topics:
Sacrament of Penance - Excommunication - Apostolic Penitentiary

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