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The jurisprudence of Catholic canon law is the complex of legal theory, traditions, and interpretative principles of Catholic canon law. In the Latin Church, the jurisprudence of canon law was founded by Gratian in the 1140s with his Decretum.[1] In the Eastern Catholic canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Photios holds a place similar to that of Gratian for the West.[2]
Much of the legislative style was adapted from that of Roman law, especially the Justinianic Corpus Juris Civilis.[3][4] As a result, Roman ecclesiastical courts tend to follow the Roman law style of continental Europe with some variation. After the fall of the Roman Empire and up until the revival of Roman law in the 11th century, canon law served as the most important unifying force among the local systems in the civil law tradition.[5] The canonists introduced into post-Roman Europe the concept of a higher law of ultimate justice, over and above the momentary law of the state.[6]
The Catholic Church developed the inquisitorial system in the Middle Ages.[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.
The institutions and practices of canon law paralleled the legal development of much of Europe, and consequently both modern civil law and common law[9] (canon law having a significant effect upon the development of the system of equity in England)[10] bear the influences of canon law. For example, discovery in common law jurisdictions came about in part because of the influence of canon law on courts of equity.[11] Edson Luiz Sampel, a Brazilian expert in canon law, says that canon law is contained in the genesis of various institutes of civil law, such as the law in continental Europe and Latin American countries. Sampel explains that canon law has significant influence in contemporary society.[citation needed]
- ^ Kenneth J. Pennington, CL701, CUA School of Canon Law, "History of Canon Law, Day 1", around 0:25:30, accessed 8-15-2014
- ^ Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite & Daniel J. Ward, "Readings, Cases, Materials in Canon Law: A Textbook for Ministerial Students, Revised Edition" (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1990), p. 61
- ^ NYTimes.com, "Pope to Codify Canon Law", 1-Apr-1904, accessed 25-June-2013
- ^ McCormick, Anne O'Hare. Vatican Journal, pg. 44
- ^ Comparative Legal Traditions, pg. 43
- ^ Wormser, The Story of the LAW, pg. 189
- ^ Lehman, Jeffrey; Phelps, Shirelle (2005). West's Encyclopedia of American Law, Vol. 6 (2 ed.). Detroit: Thomson/Gale. p. 157. ISBN 9780787663742.
- ^ Lawrence DiNardo, "A Zenit Daily Dispatch—Going to Court in the Church: Canon Lawyer Explains Penal Procedures" (17 June 2010); accessed at EWTN.com June-10-2013
- ^ Rommen, Heinrich A., Natural Law, pg. 114
- ^ Friedman, Lawrence M., American Law, pg. 70
- ^ Kessler, Amalia D. (2017). Inventing American Exceptionalism: The Origins of American Adversarial Legal Culture, 1800-1877. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780300222258. Retrieved 24 October 2023.