Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life The jurisprudence of Catholic canon law is the complex of legal theory, traditions, and interpretative principles of Catholic canon law.
[2] Much of the legislative style was adapted from that of Roman law, especially the Justinianic Corpus Juris Civilis.
[7] This judicial system features collegiate panels of judges and an investigative form of proceeding,[8] in contradistinction to the adversarial system found in the common law of England and many of her former colonies, which utilises concepts such as juries and single judges.
[citation needed] The term source or fountain of canon law (fons juris canonici) may be taken in a twofold sense.
Second, it can describe the material channel through which laws are handed down and made known (fontes cognoscendi), such as sources of history.
[note 1] Besides its range being very uncertain, the natural law is an objective sentiment, or a dictate of reason.
[12] The fontes cognoscendi (Latin: "sources of knowing") are depositaries collecting the laws enacted in the course of centuries.
Among these sources are Holy Scripture and the decrees of popes and councils; also, in a measure, custom, inasmuch, namely, as it proves the existence and continuity of laws unwritten and perhaps forgotten.
In the apostolic constitution Sacri Canones, by means of which he promulgated the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Pope John Paul II stated By the publication of this Code, the canonical ordering of the whole Church is thus at length completed, following as it does [...] the "Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia" of 1988, which is added to both Codes as the primary instrument of the Roman Pontiff for 'the communion that binds together, as it were, the whole Church'[15]Other sources include apostolic constitutions, motibus propriis, and particular law.
[16] A custom is, in other words, an unwritten law introduced by the continuous acts of the faithful with the consent of the legitimate legislator.
Custom in canon law is not simply created by the people through their constant performance of a certain act, but it is the constant performance of a certain act with the intention of making a custom, which is approved by the competent legislator, thereby acquiring the force of law.
A decree (Latin: decretum, from decerno, "I judge") is, in a general sense, an order or law made by a superior authority for the direction of others.
Any papal bull, brief, or motu proprio is a decree inasmuch as these documents are legislative acts of the pope.
[note 3] The Roman Congregations were formerly empowered to issue decrees in matters which come under their particular jurisdiction, but were forbidden from continuing to do so under Pope Benedict XV in 1917.
Each ecclesiastical province, and also each diocese, may issue decrees in their periodical synods within their sphere of authority.
While this is the usual sense of "law" in modern legal systems, the legal system of the Catholic Church distinguishes this from jus, which refers to the oral teachings, practices, customs, theological understandings of liturgy, and liturgical practices generally prior to the Council of Nicea in AD 325, when written legislation became the normative means of communicating Church law.
Lex takes several forms: Jus or ius, the source of the English term "justice", can be translated as "law" as well but, in the canon law of the Catholic Church, it refers specifically to custom, practice, or "Tradition" as opposed to formal written enactments (lex).
Much Church legislation, unless otherwise stated, is the development or restatement of earlier law, with particular focus given to the oral tradition from apostolic teaching.
The Early Church, which existed under varying degrees of persecution in the Roman Empire prior to Constantine I in the early fourth century, was not in a position to gather large councils for the purpose of legislation or theological clarification prior to the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
Some of what is included in the term jus would be interpretations of particular scriptural passages, theological understandings of the liturgy, and liturgical practices themselves.
[21] In the decretal Proposuit, Innocent III proclaimed that the pope could, if circumstances demanded, dispense from canon law, de jure, with his plenitude of power, basing his view on the principle princeps legibus solutus est (the prince is not bound by the laws).
As a general rule the pope delegates his powers to the various congregations of the Roman Curia which are charged with granting dispensations in matters within the sphere of their competence.
If the cause is not "just and reasonable" then the dispensation is illegal and, if issued by someone other than the lawgiver of the law in question or his superior, it is also invalid.
Sufficient causes for matrimonial dispensations are divided into canonical causes, i. e. classified and held as sufficient by the common law and canonical jurisprudence, and reasonable causes, i.e. not provided for nominally in the law, but deserving of equitable consideration in view of circumstances or particular cases.
Promulgation is the act by which the legislator manifests to those subject to his jurisdiction the decision that he has made and makes known to them his intention to bind them to the observance of his law.
Minors and ecclesiastical institutions may have sentences in certain civil trials set aside (Restitutio in integrum).
The provisions of a previous statute are not presumed to be changed beyond the express meaning of the words of a new law.
[45] It may also be the partial cancellation or amendment of a law, decree, or legal regulation by the imposition of a newer one.
[34] If the law were specifically enacted to use canonical months instead, it would take effect after 90 days on 31 January.