UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA

Facultat de Dret

Canon Law
 

Dr.  Eduard Bajet
Catedràtic

   Dr.  Santiago Bueno
Catedràtic
 

Curs 2003-2004



CONTENTS OF THE CANON LAW

I.  GENERAL SECTION

Lecture 1. INTRODUCTION
Canon law: notion. Catholic Church and law. Validity and influence. The canon science within the juridical studies. Canon studies and their branches. Canon law and State ecclesiastic law. Canon law and auxiliary sciences.

Lecture 2. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION
Ancient law: creation, features, texts; council sources, pontifical sources (decree letters) and local sources. Canon collections from the upper middle age. Gregorian reform: objectives and means. Classical law: precedents; Gracian’s decree; corpus decreralium. Decretists and decretalists. The Corpus Iuris Canonici. Decadence and tridentine reform.

Canon codification: situation in 1879. Codification attempts. The Codex Iuris Canonici from 1917: antecedents, elaboration, promulgation, reception; critical appraisal. Situation in 1959. New codification. The Code of canon law from 1983: systematic, contents; codification criteria; critical appraisal.

Lecture 3. CANON LAW IN CATALONIA
The Catalan canon law: sources, institutions, doctrine. The canon law within the Catalan law. First influences of canon law over the Catalan law. Catalan middle-age reception of common law: evolution. Classical supplement of canon law: prelation. Canon texts and canon doctrine. Catalan juridical institutions influenced by canon law. Situation from 1716 to 1961: doctrinal and jurisprudence interpretation. Function of canon law within the contemporary Catalan civil law.

Lecture 4. NATURE AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CANON LAW
Canon law nature. Canon law effectiveness: jurisdicity and coercion, jurisdicity and intersubjectivity, external and internal privilege. Canon law informative principles: justice, canon equity, salus animarum, other derived principles. Canon constitutional law. Authority and power at the Church. Concept of ecclesiastic authority: the tria munera. Subdivisions of rule authority: legislative, executive and judicial. Rule authority exercise: ordinary authority and delegate authority; substitution. Power and legality, pluralism and communion, participation and democracy. Universal authority and local authority.

Lecture 5. CANON RULES AND ACTS
The rule within the canon law. Sources system. The canon law: notion, validity, suspension, law types, origin, subjects, exemptions, interprelation, substitution. The canon habit: interpretative function, standard function and integrative function. Canon regulation of juridical acts.

Lecture 6. CANON ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Introduction and precedents. Administrative rules. Administrative acts. Administrative procedures. Administrative actions for special situations: legal resorts (privilege, dispensation), and extralegal resorts (dissimulatio, tolerance). The protection of subjective rights in front of the ecclesiastic administration.

Lecture 7. CANON SUBJECTIVITY
Physical people: acquisition and extinction of personality; juridical competence and acting competence: canon statute of physical people. Rights and duties of every physical person. Juridical person: notion, origin and historical evolution. Present regulation: moral persons: corporations and foundations: public and private juridical person; achievement of the juridical personality. Canon associations. Canon foundations.

Lecture 8. PATRIMONIAL LAW
Church economy and canon law. Material goods: goods classification. Notion of ecclesiastic goods. Voluntary forms of contributing with goods. Canon tax law. Contract rule: general criteria; reference to civil law; canon limits to the alienation. Goods administration.
 

Lecture 9. PENAL LAW
Canon penal law function. General principles and juridical singularities of the canon penal law. Sources system. Penal subjects. The canon crime: notion and elements. Canon penalties: function and classes. Penalty application. General typology of canon crimes.

II. CANON MARRIAGE LAW

Lecture 10. MARRIAGE AND CANON LAW
Canon concept of marriage. Marriage in fieri and marriage in facto esse. Formation and historical evolution of the canon marriage law. Elements and essential proprieties. Juridical protection: the favor matrimonii. Conjugal crisis and canon law: separation, nullity, revalidation, dissolution. The putative marriage form.

Lecture 11. PARTS COMPETENCE
The natural competence of getting married: the ius connubii. Legal competence. Concept and juridical nature of hindrances: nullity and illicitness; establishment, cessation and dispense; classification.

Lecture 12. MARRIAGE CONSENT
Psychic competence. Consent with ignorance or error. Coerced consent. Simulated consent. Conditioned consent.

Lecture 13. MARRIAGE CANON FORM
Emission form and reception form. Historical evolution. Ordinary form. Extraordinary form. Secret marriage. Marriage by attorney. Form dispense.

III. CANON PROCESSAL LAW

Lecture 14. PROCESSAL LAW: ESTIMATES
Judicial function within the canon law. Judicial organs. Territory, degrees and court classes: composition. Competence classes and privilege classes. The parts within the process. Litisconsortium. Actions and exceptions.

Lecture 15. LEGAL LAW: ORDINARY TRIAL
Introductory period (claim, answer, legal position, fixation of Dubium). Evidence period (evidence means; canon specialities; restricted publicity; judicial organ functions; legal appraisal). Discussion period (written allegations; first hearing). Decision period (judicial decision; sentence; other pronounces). Sentence contest (appeal; restitutio in integrum and revision appeal; nullity charge). Firmness and judged subject.

Lecture 16. PROCESSAL LAW: SPECIAL TRIALS, ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
Marriage nullity ordinary process: specialities. Marriage nullity documentary process: assumptions and procedure. Other judicial processes.

Link dissolution administrative processes: assumptions and procedure. Other special administrative procedures.

Bibliography

- Codi de Dret Canònic. [Edició amb comentaris] Publ. Abadia Montserrat.
- S. BUENO. Dret canònic. Ed. Marcial Pons.
- P. LOMBARDIA. Lecciones de derecho canónico. Ed. Tecnos.
- A. BERNÁRDEZ CANTÓN. Derecho canónico. Parte general. Ed. Fundacion Ramon
Areces.
- M. LÓPEZ ALARCÓN & R. NAVARRO-VALLS. Derecho matrimonial canónico y
concordado. Ed.Tecnos.
 
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