Ecclesiastical court

One of its primary bases was the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian, which is also considered the source of the civil law legal tradition.

In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than they did after the development of nation states.

Ecclesiastical courts generally followed the better regulated inquisition, accusation or denunciation judicial procedures.

In medieval times, they had a very wide jurisdiction including family law and dowry disputes,[b] probate, equity, defamation,[4] failure to observe holy days,[5] and cases involving priests and religious communities and individuals or public heretics.

A college of at least three judges, however, must try cases involving an excommunication, the dismissal of a cleric, or the annulment of the bond of marriage or of sacred ordination (can.

The promoter of justice, for instance, is a canon lawyer whose job is to represent the diocese as the prosecutor in penal cases and who also can intervene in contentious cases if they concern the "public good", acting as a watch dog for the people of the diocese.

Another important officer is the defender of the bond, another canon lawyer whose job is to present reasons to the tribunal why a marriage is valid in cases of alleged nullity and why an ordination is valid in the rare cases of alleged nullity of Holy Orders.

Unlike courts of common law tradition, ecclesiastical tribunals do not follow the adversarial system.

The first is the Apostolic Signatura, a panel of five cardinals which serves as the highest court in the Roman Catholic Church.

This is usually reserved for cases where they are facing excommunication or some other form of severe censure, such as the loss of the right to teach theology or to administer the sacraments.

It primarily deals with cases that arise only within the confessional and which by their nature are private, confidential or whose facts are secret.

The confidentiality of the person, and the priest's absolute obligation to preserve the secrecy of the Sacrament of Penance, are still in force in such cases.

This court, under the authority of the Cardinal Major Penitentiary, who acts in the Pope's name, answers the confessor and empowers him to impose a penance and lift a penalty.

The chancellor or commissary-general must be thirty years old and either have a seven-year general qualification under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 section 71 or have held high judicial office.

The common judge is called the Dean of Arches in Canterbury and the Auditor in York; he or she is appointed jointly by both archbishops with the approval of the Crown, and must either hold a ten-year High Court qualification under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, s 71, or have held high judicial office.

Two members of each court must be clergy appointed by the Prolocutor of the Lower House of the provincial convocation.

[c] Two further members of each court are appointed by the Chairman of the House of Laity of the General Synod;[d] these must possess such legal qualifications as the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain requires.

The Court is composed of three diocesan bishops and two appellate judges; it has jurisdiction over both of the provinces of Canterbury and York.

The King-in-Council does not have jurisdiction over doctrinal cases from the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved, which instead go to an ad hoc Commission of Review, composed of two diocesan bishops and three Lords of Appeal (who are also members of the Judicial Committee).

Its powers have been reduced over the centuries but it still meets weekly to prove wills and to grant marriage licences.

[14] Courts and procedure for trials of bishops are provided for by the Canons of the General Convention (the triennial legislative body of the national church).

[12] For priests and deacons, initial trial is held by an ecclesiastical court established by the diocese in which the cleric is canonically resident.

For example, the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople has such courts for determining whether to grant divorce after the State has.

The Judicial Council also hears appeals from those who have been accused of chargeable offenses that can result in defrocking or revocation of membership.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has Permanent Judicial Commissions for each synod, presbytery and the General Assembly of the denomination, all of which are elected by members and are composed of ministers and elders subject to its jurisdiction.