Canon law (Catholic Church)

Canon Law is the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic ecclesiastical law is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, precedent, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. The degrees of education in canon law are the J.C.B. (Juris Canonici Baccalaureatus, Bachelor of Canon Law, normally taken as a graduate degree), J.C.L. (Juris Canonici Licentiatus, Licentiate of Canon Law) and the J.C.D. (Juris Canonici Doctor, Doctor of Canon Law). Because of its specialized nature, advanced degrees in civil law or theology are normal prerequisites for the study of canon law.

Terminology

"Roman Catholic Church" is an especially inaccurate term with regard to the Church's canon law, as Eastern Rite Catholics have their own canon law and never use "Roman" to describe themselves. Eastern Rite Catholics are in communion with Rome and are Catholics but are not "Roman Catholics." It is always incorrect to refer to the Canon Law of the "Roman Catholic Church" unless one is speaking only of the law governing the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.

Sources

In the Roman Catholic church, the canons of the councils were supplemented with decretals of the Popes, which were gathered together into collections such as the Liber Extra (1234), the Liber Sextus (1298) and the Clementines (1317). Much of the jurisprudential style was adapted from the Roman Law code of Justinian. As a result, courts in the Catholic Church tend to follow the Roman Law style of the continent of Europe, featuring collegiate panels of judges, a somewhat neutral presumption before verdict, and an investigative form of proceeding, called "inquisitorial", from the Latin "inquirere", to enquire. This is in contrast to the adversarial form of proceeding found in the Common Law jurisdictions of British and American law, which feature juries, single, neutral judges, etc.

Compilations and new codes

In the 13th century, the Catholic Church began attempting to collect and organize canon law, which after a millennium of development had become a complex and difficult system of interpretation and cross-referencing. The 1582 Code of Canon Law was actually a compilation of the Decreta, Extra, the Sext, the Clementines and the Extravagantes (that is, a compilation of the decretals of John XXII, and Boniface VII through Sixtus IV).

The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Codex Iuris Canonici or CIC) was actually the first instance of a new code completely re-written in a systematic fashion, reduced to a single book or "codex" for ease of use. It took effect in November 1918.

After the sweeping reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1961-1975) so much had changed in the Church that the council fathers wrote into the documents that the code be completely revised. After decades of discussion and numerous drafts, the project was nearly complete upon the death of Paul VI in 1978. Later that year when John Paul II had become pope, he brought further major changes to the code. The new revision, (CIC 1982) took effect in 1983.

Pope John Paul II promulgated the revised and presently binding Code of Canon Law for all of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, with exception of the Eastern Catholic Churches. These Eastern Rites within the Catholic Church have a separate Code of Canon Law, called the CCEO (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches) incorporating certain differences in the hierarchical, administrative and judicial fora.

St. Raymond of Penyafort (1175-1275), a Spanish Dominican priest, is the Patron Saint of canonists, due to his important contributions to the science of Canon Law.

Eastern Rites

The Eastern Catholic Churches have a separate code of canon law. The first attempt to codify Eastern law under the name Codex Iuris Canonici Orientalis (Code of Eastern Canon Law) was partially completed when Pope Pius XII promulgated portions of the canons in 1948. However, when the project neared completion in 1959, Pope John XXIII suspended work as the expected conciliar reforms would affect the code. The Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, CCEO) was promulgated in November 1990. The majority of canons correspond closely to the Roman code, but incorporate certain differences in the hierarchy, administration and other areas.

Related terms

External links

Code of Canon Law (1983), IntraText edition with referenced concordance, hosted by the Vatican
Code of Canons of Oriental Churchs, IntraText Digital Library
Catholic Encyclopedia: Canon Law
Robinson, Fergus and Gordon, European Legal History 3rd Ed, London; Butterworths: 2000.