Law of Vatican City
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| This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Vatican City |
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Constitution
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Legislature
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Judiciary
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The Law of Vatican City State consists of many forms, the most important of which is the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, essentially the Constitution of Vatican City State. The Code of Penal Procedure governs Tribunals and the Lateran Treaty governs relations with the Republic of Italy.
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Fundamental Law [edit]
The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 26 November 2000, consists of 20 Articles and is the constitutional law of the Vatican City State.[1] It obtained the force of law of 22 February 2001, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, and replaced in its entirety the Fundamental Law of Vatican City of 7 June 1929, (Law n. I). All the norms in force in Vatican City State which were not in agreement with the new Law were abrogated and the original of the Fundamental Law, bearing the Seal of Vatican City State, was deposited in the Archive of the Laws of Vatican City State and the corresponding text was published in the Supplement to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.[2]
Judiciary [edit]
The judicial system of Vatican City consists of:[3][4]
- a sole judge (Giudice Unico) with limited jurisdiction
- a tribunal (tribunale) with four members
- a Court of Appeal (Corte d'Appello) with four members
- a Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) with three members
Justice is exercised in the name of the Supreme Pontiff.
The sole judge has to be a Vatican citizen and he can simultaneously serve as a member of the tribunal. The tribunal itself consists of a president and three other judges (however, cases a heard in a curia of three judges). A promoter of justice (Promotore di Giustizia) serves as attorney both at the tribunal and at the court of the sole judge. The members of the tribunal, the sole judge and the promoter of justice are all lay jurists and are appointed by the pope.
The Court of Appeal consists of the president and three other judges (similar to the tribunal, cases a heard in a curia of three judges). The members of the Court of Appeal are appointed by the pope for a term of five years and are both clerics and lay persons.
The Supreme Court consists of its president, who is by law the Cardinal Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (currently Raymond Leo Burke) and two other cardinals, who are appointed by the president on a yearly basis and also have to be member of the Signatura.
All courts have their seat at the Palazzo del Tribunale at Piazza Santa Marta behind Saint Peter's Basilica.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Law Library of Congress, "Guide to Law Online: Holy See", accessed Jan-2-2013
- ^ VaticanState.va, "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State", concluding paragraphs; accessed Jan-2-2013
- ^ Giuseppe Dalla Torre (2009). "L'Ordinamento Giudiziario". Ottanta anni dello Stato della Città del Vaticano. Governatorato dello Stato della Città del Vaticano. pp. 135–144.
- ^ "Legge che approva l'ordinamento giudiziario dello Stato della Città del Vaticano (Suppl. 12)". Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS) 79. Holy See. 1987.
External links [edit]
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