The canon law of the Catholic Church is supreme in the civil legal system of Vatican City State.
[3] In April 2023, Pope Francis promulgated a new Fundamental Law, this new version entered into force the same year.
This was amended in a major fashion in 2013 to include a number of United Nations Conventions the state has signed over the years, as well as bringing it up to date.
The penal code now includes specifics defining money laundering, explicit listing of sexual crimes, and violating confidentiality.
[10] On May 9, 2019, a new law was issued to male and female church workers not just in the Vatican, but throughout the world to disclose any report of sex abuse.
"These changes may affect the Vatican’s impending trial of the 39-year-old Italian woman Cecilia Marogna, who has been accused of embezzlement, which she denies.
"[14] In April 2021, Pope Francis published an apostolic letter motu proprio to change some articles so that Vatican City court can judge cardinals and bishops.
[4][5] The judicial system of Vatican City consists of:[17][18] Justice is exercised in the name of the Supreme Pontiff.
A promoter of justice (Promotore di Giustizia) serves as attorney both at the tribunal and at the court of the sole judge.
On May 7, 2015, Pope Francis appointed as a Judge of the Ecclesiastical Court of Vatican City State, Lucio Banerjee, a cleric of the Diocese of Treviso, in Treviso, Italy, and Paolo Scevola, of the Diocese of Vigevano, to serve as Notary Actuary of the same court; they are officials of the General Affairs Section of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.
The Promoter of Justice of the Court of Appeals of Vatican City is currently, since his appointment by Pope Francis on Wednesday, June 12, 2013, Professor Raffaele Coppola, Professor of the Law Faculty at the State University of Bari in Bari, Italy, and a member of the Bar for canon and civil law in the Holy See.
As a result of the change, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, the prefect of the signatura, was removed as president of the Court of Cassation.
However, in 2021, shortly before the indictment of Cardinal Angelo Becciu for financial crimes, Francis abolished the privilege, amending the Vatican's civil code to make the lower court competent to judge cases, except for civil cases, "involving the Most Eminent Cardinals and the Most Excellent Bishops" with the prior approval of the pope.