Diocesan Tribunals

[Matthew_Holford]

Can someone please explain what the roles of each of the officials in a diocesan tribunal are?

I think the officials in a tribunal are: Judicial Vicar (or Officialis), Associate Judicial Vicar (or Vice-Officialis), Judge (Clerical and Lay), Ponens (or Relator), Auditor, Assessor, Promoter of Justice, Defender of the Bond, Advocate, Procurator, and Notary. If I’ve missed any please add them.

[Please only answer if you actually know the answer, i.e. I would like the correct answers not just well-intentioned opinions or guesses. Please don’t refer me to the Code of Canon Law 1983. That’s just like a teacher telling a student to go and read a textbook if they’ve been asked a question. I’ve two copies of the Code and a commentary on the code (which I’ve misplaced and it would probably answer my question). Therefore, if the Code helped I wouldn’t be here asking this question.]

Thanks

Matt

P.S. I’m particularly interested to know the difference between an Advocate and Procurator as the Code of Canon Law doesn’t make it at all clear how they differ.

 

[dans0622]

Hi Matt,

I don’t know how much detail you want…

An advocate is to be an expert in the law–someone who can advise the client as to what the best legal options are and how to go about achieving the client’s goal. So, in the process of obtaining the declaration of nullity of a marriage, for example, the advocate would learn the facts of the client’s case and counsel him/her as to which grounds to pursue, witnesses to call, etc. The advocate would also, at the conclusion of the process, be able to read all the evidence and make an argument on behalf of his/her client.

A procurator is chosen by the client to act in his/her name; a proxy, in other words. There are certain actions that require a special permission for the procurator to act–to abandon a case, for example. But, the procurator can act for the client in “normal” circumstances. The procurator does not need any special, legal training (although it wouldn’t hurt) and is not expected to give any legal advice.

For the others, briefly:

Judicial vicar is in charge of the tribunal, although he doesn’t appoint anyone to an office, that is the responsibility of the Bishop. Vice J.V. is basically the same, although he would function under the authority of the J.V. These people are also judges.

Judge–seems obvious.
Ponens: the judge of a collegiate panel of judges who writes the sentence.
Auditor: gathers and examines evidence through conducting interviews, sending questions, etc.
Assessor: a legal expert who advises the judge.
P of J: does not usually function in marriage cases. In penal cases, though, is active in making sure the guilty are brought to justice: a prosecutor, you might say.
D of the B.: Does just that, by proposing, explaining, arguing all that can be reasonably put forward in defense of the bond.
Notary: authenticates official documents and does other clerical/secretarial work.

You could also add “presiding judge” who is the judge who presides (imagine that) over a panel of judges (three or five). Often, the presiding judge is the same as the ponens, although a lay person can not be a presiding judge but can be the ponens.

Hope this helps.

Dan

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Hi Dan

Yes, that was really helpful. It was enough detail to clarify things for me. It could be me but the CIC doesn’t seem to clarify the distinction between advocate and procurator. I suppose it (or rather its authors) may assume those who actually need to read the Code would know the difference.

I suspected the difference might be as you described. I live in UK and lawyers in Scotland are called Advocates and I know some religious orders have a representative in Rome called a Procurator.

If you read this post I’d be grateful if you could answer 2 supplementary questions.

1. Once assigned can a Procurator decide how to act say like someone with power of attorney or must they take instructions from their client in how they act.
2. As most Tribunals deal mostly with marriage cases - just wondered is it a collegial Tribunal that deals with marriage or can a single judge deal with a case or can it be either depending on the case?

Out of interest, how do you know this stuff about Tribunals?

Thanks once again

Matt

 

[dans0622]

If you read this post I’d be grateful if you could answer 2 supplementary questions.

1. Once assigned can a Procurator decide how to act say like someone with power of attorney or must they take instructions from their client in how they act.
2. As most Tribunals deal mostly with marriage cases - just wondered is it a collegial Tribunal that deals with marriage or can a single judge deal with a case or can it be either depending on the case?

Out of interest, how do you know this stuff about Tribunals?

Hello again,

The procurator can submit the petition that asks for the case to be opened, can raise objections to the grounds or witnesses or tribunal officials working on the case, is to be updated as to the status of the case, be told of the decision, and make an appeal. There really isn’t much the procurator can do other than that. The role is limited to the particular process being pursued and is further limited in that process.

In first instance, the law desires that a marriage nullity case is decided by a collegiate tribunal of at least three judges. But, if there is a shortage of qualified personnel, the conference of bishops in a country can determine that a single judge can hear these cases in first instance. In second instance (appealate level) there must be a college of at least three judges.

I have some familiarity with these things because I work at a tribunal as a defender of the bond.

Dan

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Hello again,

The procurator can submit the petition that asks for the case to be opened, can raise objections to the grounds or witnesses or tribunal officials working on the case, is to be updated as to the status of the case, be told of the decision, and make an appeal. There really isn’t much the procurator can do other than that. The role is limited to the particular process being pursued and is further limited in that process.

In first instance, the law desires that a marriage nullity case is decided by a collegiate tribunal of at least three judges. But, if there is a shortage of qualified personnel, the conference of bishops in a country can determine that a single judge can hear these cases in first instance. In second instance (appealate level) there must be a college of at least three judges.

I have some familiarity with these things because I work at a tribunal as a defender of the bond.

Dan

Thanks!