Stosowanie prawa przez organy Państwa Watykańskiego a zasadnicze problemy jego systemu prawnego
Application of law by the authorities of the Vatican City State and fundamental problems of its legal system

Summary/Abstract: In the article the author reflects on the fundamental problems of the application of law by the authorities of the Vatican City State, resulting primarily from the adopted system of sources of law. It is mainly based on norms of canon law – established for the functioning of the Catholic Church – and provisions of Italian law. Such a combination raises a number of practical problems, particularly in the application of the rule of law in Vatican criminal law which allows the offender to be punished without a clear legal basis. At the same time, a key role in the application of law in the Vatican is played by moral judgments, developed on the basis of the teachings of the Catholic Church. Therefore, the author puts forward a hypothesis that the analysis of the system of sources of Vatican law also provides a unique opportunity to study the practical application of classic concepts in the Western legal tradition, such as natural law, or to clarify important issues in canon law research. Moreover, it may help explain the possibility of a wider application of the principles of law at the stage of its application with a minimum of positivisation.

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