Author(s): Tomasz Rozkrut / Language(s): Polish
Issue: 1/2017
Church litigation, especially the canonical process concerning the adjudication of nullity of marriage ends, in most cases, with a judgement. This also is true for the canonical process, which is an ordinary litigation process, documentary process, and the new form of the canonical process, i.e. a shortened marital process before a bishop. The Code legislator foresees other forms for nishing the canonical process, as well. The following are among the above mentioned methods: suspension of an instance, temporary suspension of an instance, dismissal of an instance, and waiver of an instance. The suspension of the case instruction, namely, the legal proceedings and complementation of the collected material, in order to obtain the super rato dispensation, is a special case in the marital process. Furthermore, there is also a possibility to change the ordinary litigation process into a “consistory”. It should also be indicated, especially from the practical point of view, that the present canonical marital process should be well prepared, just because it is intended to be nished in a relatively short period of time. In particular, at this point a great practical importance must be given to the pre-trial examination (conducted by a priest) proposed by the Pope Francis’s litigation reform, that should be conducted in the new parish or diocese structures that were prepared for the believers, who live in separation or are divorced, and who question the validity of their marriage or believe that it is void. The above new structures could also be used as a venue for possible attempts to reconcile the spouses, of course, if it is still possible in practice. The Pope Francis’s 2015 marriage litigation reform is dynamic to such extent that it also needs to be referred, when discussing suspension, dismissal and waiver that, perhaps, are not commonly seen in the practice of the church courts. However, legal situations that are applied in a correct manner should be presented.
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