Corpus Juris Canonici
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The Corpus juris canonici (lit. 'Body of Canon Law') is the collection of significant sources of canon law of the Catholic Church that was applicable to the universal Church or specifically to Churches of the Latin Rite or Eastern Rites. It was replaced by the Codex juris canonici ("Code of Canon Law"), which was promulgated in 1917 and went into effect in 1918. The Codex juris canonici was revised in 1983 for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church and in 1990 for the Eastern rites.
The Corpus juris canonici was used in canonical courts of the Catholic Church such as those in each diocese and in the courts of appeal at the Vatican such as the Sacra Rota Romana.
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Timeline
- From the apostolic period, the Church used different collections of law but development of a single collection which could be used in all courts did not develop until the Middle Ages.
- The books of the Corpus Juris Canonici were derived from Gratian's work Decretum Gratiani and were integrated with papal decretals written from 1200 to 1500.
- Pope Pius V in 1566 began a project to unify the collection of law. He wanted to ensure the use of authentic and reliable versions of the libri legales so that the administration of justice did not depend on the version of Gratian that particular canonical court used. He assembled a committee of great canon law scholars who became known as the Correctores Romani. The Correctores were guided by Antonio Agustín of Spain. Pope Pius V did not live to see this project to completion. Pope Gregory XIII promulgated the finished version in 1580 which was enforced until 1917.
- Pope Benedict XV promulgated a revision as a complete code Code of Canon Law (1917) (Template:Lang-la)
- Pope John Paul II promulgated a revision in 1983.
Content of the Codex juris canonici
Effective in 1918, the Corpus Juris Canonici was replaced by the Codex Juris Canonici. The Codex Juris Canonici was updated in 1983. The 1983 Codex Juris Canonici is composed of seven books.
Book One
This part of the Codex contains the general norms. It contains the general rules concerning
- legal sources
- persons
- juridic acts
- governance and offices
- time
Legal sources are laws (including custom as a special way of legislation because of the need of the approval of the legislator), which contain universal regulations, general decrees, instructions and statues, which refer to a special group and in case of statues even are legislated by this group itself and administrative acts, which only decide single cases.
Persons are the physical and juridic person. In opposition to traditional secular legislation, not every person is a physical person according to the Corpus Juris Canonici. One is constituted a person duties and rights only by christening.
The Codex the premises for the validity of a juridic act especially in relation to form, coercion, misapprehension and lack of participation.
The power of law is divided in the three authorities of legislative, executive and judiciary. The ability to conduct juridic acts can be joined to an office or it can be delegated to a person. Relating to office, the provision and loss of the ecclesiastical office is regulated.
Time regulates prescription, which goes along with the national regulations, but can only be achieved in good faith, and definitions of time.
Book Two
Book two describes the "People of God". It shows the body of the Holy Roman Catholic Church This book is divided into three parts
- The Christian faithful
- The hierarchical constitution of the church
- Institutions of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.
The Christian faithful shows the obligations of the faithful in common, those of the lay and those of the sacred ministers or clerics with special consideration of the formation and enrolment of clerics and personal prelatures. Furthermore the associations of the Christian faithful especially their recognition as a juridic person are constituted, divided in public, private associations and those of the lay.
The hierarchical constitution of the church describes the composition, rights and obligations of the supreme authority of the church, generated of the Roman Pontiff, the college of bishops, the synod of bishops, the cardinal priests, the Roman curia and the legates. Furthermore the dioceses, their organisation with bishop curia and synod and their involvement in ecclesiastical provinces, particular councils and conferences of bishops are described
Adequate to the regulations of part two the hierarchical constitution of religious and secular institutes and societies of apostolic life is shown. A religious institute is a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public vows and lead a life of brothers or sisters in common. A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful, living in the world, strive for the perfection of charity and seek to contribute to the sanctification of the world, especially from within. Societies of apostolic life do not use a vow.
Book Three
Book three describes the teaching function of the church. The forms of teaching are the ministry of the divine word in the forms of the preaching of the word of god and the catechetical instruction, the missionary action of the church, the catholic education in schools, catholic universities and other institutes of higher studies and the ecclesiastical universities and faculties, the instruments of communication and books in particular and finally the profession of faith.
Book Four
In book four the function of the church and its religious acts are explained. This book is composed of three parts
- the sacraments
- the other acts of divine worship
- sacred places and times
The sacraments are baptism, confirmation, the most holy eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, orders and marriage. These sacraments are described with conditions, ceremony and participants.
Other acts of divine worship are sacramentals, the liturgy of the hours, ecclesiastical funerals, the veneration of the saints, sacred images and relics and the vow and oath.
Sacred places are those which are dedicated for divine worship or for the burial of the faithful. The Corpus Juris knows five kinds of sacred places, churches, oratories and private chapels, shrines, altars and cemeteries. Sacred times are feast days and days of penance.
Book Five
This part of the Corpus Juris is the regulation of the civil law. There are instructions concerning the acquisition and administration of goods especially the acquisition by bestowal either through an act inter vivos or through an act mortis causa and contracts with special care of alimentation.
Book Six
In book six the punishment law is statuated. The book has two parts
- Delicts and penalties in general
- Panalties for individual delicts
The first book declares the necessarity of a violation of a law and shows the limits and requirements of such a penal law. It determines reasons, which eliminate the punishment as lack the use of reason, nonage (less than seventeen years), mistake in law or facts, missing causality or intent and self defence. It also describes soecial cases as complicity, wilful default and attempt. Possible penalties are censures (excommunication and suspension), expiatory penalties (prohibition or an order concerning residence in a certain place or territory, privation of a power, office, function, right, privilege, faculty, favor, title or insignia) and penal remedies and penances. Finally the right of the application and cassation of penalties is regulated
The second book shows individual delicts, fragmented to delicts against religion and unity of the church, against ecclesisastical authorities and the freedom of the church, against special obligations, against human life and freedom, usurpation of ecclesiastical functions and delicts in their exercise and the crime of falsehood. In addition to these cases (and those statued in other laws) the external violation of a divine or canonical law can be punished, when the special gravity of the violation demands punishment and there is an urgent need to prevent or repair scandals.
Book Seven
Book seven contains the legal procedure. It is divided in 5 parts.
- Trials in general
- The contentious trial
- special processes
- The penal process
- The method of proceeding in administrative recourse and in the removal or transfer of pastors
The first part trials in general defines the court system, its two local instances and the Roman Pontiff as the supreme judge with the representation by the tribunals of the apostolic see, especially the Roman Rota. It determines the participants of the lawsuit, the judge, the auditors and relators, the promoter of justice, the defender of the bond, the notary the petitioner, the respondent and the procurators for litigation and advocates. Finally it describes the disciplie to be observed in tribunals with the duty of judges and ministers, the order of adjudication, the time limits and delays, the place of the trial, the persons to be admitted to the court, the manner of preparing and keeping the acts and the actions and exceptions in general and specific.
The contentious trial begins with the introductory libellus of litigation and the citation and notification of juridical act. The joinder of the issue occurs when the terms of the controversy are defined by the judge, through a decree of the judge. Further on, this part explains the trial of the litigation, especially the absence of a party, the intervention of a third person and the proofs. There are six kinds of proof, declarations of the parties, documents, testimonies, experts, judicial examination and inspection and presumptions. After taking evidence the acts are published, the case concluded and then discussed. The case ends with the sentence of the judge. The sentence can be challenged by complaint of nullity and by appeal. Finally the res inducta and restitutio in intergrum, the execution of the judgement, the judicial expenses and gratuitous legal assistance are regulated. As an alternative to this contentious trial there is the possibility of an oral contentious process.
Part three defines special processes and their special regulations, the marriage process, cases of separation of spouses, process for the dispensation of a marriage ratum et not, the rocess in the presumed death of spouses, cases for declaring the nullity of sacred ordination. This part also shows methods of avoiding trials.
Part four shows the proceedings of the penal process with the preliminary investigation the trial and the adhesive procedure.
The last part shows the methods of proceeding in administrative recourse, which can be made by any person who claims to have been aggrieved by a decree and the removal or transfer of pastors with display of the reasons of the removal or transfer.
See also
