Ecclesiastical courts

An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than before the development of nation states. They were experts in interpreting canon law, a basis of which was the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' of Justinian, which is considered the source of the civil law legal tradition.

Catholic Church

The tribunals of the Catholic Church are governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law in the case of the Western Church (Latin Church), and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches in the case of the Eastern Catholic Churches (Byzantine, Ukrainian, Maronite, Melkite, etc.). Both systems of canon law underwent general revisions in the late 20th century, resulting in the new code for the Latin Church in 1983, and the compilation for the first time of the Eastern Code in 1990.

First instance

Cases normally originate in the tribunal of the particular church (i.e. the diocese or eparchy) of the parties to the case. This tribunal in canon law is called the ''tribunal of first instance''. The bishop of the church possesses the power to judge for his church; however, since the bishop has many different duties in his diocese, most cases are handled by judges whom he appoints, led by a priest known as the judicial vicar or ''officialis''.

A single judge can handle normal contentious and penal cases. A college of at least three judges, however, must try cases involving an excommunication, the dismissal of a cleric, or the annulment of the bond of marriage or of sacred ordination (can. 1425 §1). The bishop can assign up to five judges to a case that is very difficult or important (can. 1425 §2). Otherwise, the judicial vicar assigns cases to the judges and, in those cases which require three or more judges, presides over the panel or assigns one of his assistant judicial vicars to preside, if there are any. The judicial vicar and the assistant judicial vicars must be priests with doctorates or at least licentiates in canon law. The other judges need only be clerics with licentiates, but the episcopal conference can permit members of the laity with the same academic qualifications to serve as judges on a panel.

There are other officers of the tribunal. The promoter of justice, for instance, is a canon lawyer whose job is to represent the diocese as the prosecutor in penal cases and who also can intervene in contentious cases if they concern the "public good", acting as a watch dog for the people of the diocese. Another important officer is the defender of the bond, another canon lawyer whose job is to present reasons to the tribunal why a marriage is valid in cases of alleged nullity and why an ordination is valid in the rare cases of alleged nullity of Holy Orders. The tribunal also has notaries who swear in witnesses and commit their testimony to writing. Parties in a case have the right to appoint an advocate who can argue for them at the tribunal. If a person cannot afford an advocate, the tribunal can assign one to them free of charge.

Unlike courts of common law tradition, ecclesiastical tribunals do not follow the adversarial system. Based on the same Roman civil law that is behind much European law, the procedure of a canonical court is more akin to the inquisitorial system, with the judges leading the investigation. As a general rule, the defendant has the favorable presumption of law, which means that the defendant will win by default unless a majority of the judges is convinced with moral certainty of the petitioner's case (can. 1608). This presumption also applies in penal cases (can. 1728). There are few exceptions to this rule; in those cases, the burden shifts to the defendant.

Some matters cannot be introduced at the diocesan level and can only be introduced before the following:
* Appellate tribunal for the diocese: cases against the diocese itself or an institution represented by the diocesan bishop
* Roman Rota: cases against the heads of religious orders, cases against dioceses or church institutions that are immediately subject to the Holy See, and non-penal cases against bishops
* The Pope himself: any case where a cardinal, Eastern rite patriarch, papal legate, or head of state is a defendant and any penal case involving a bishop.

Appeal

The appellate tribunal is known as the ''tribunal of second instance''. Normally the second instance tribunal is the tribunal of the metropolitan bishop. In the case where the appeal is from a first instance decision of the metropolitan's own tribunal, the appeal is taken to a court which the metropolitan designated with approval of the Holy See, usually another nearby metropolitan, thus ensuring that appeals from one diocese are never heard by the same diocese. As an example, a case in the Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, would be appealed to the tribunal of the Archdiocese of Boston, but a case originating in the Archdiocese of Boston would be appealed to the tribunal of the Archdiocese of New York, by agreement between the archbishops of New York and Boston.

Some cases are automatically appealed (for instance, when a marriage is found to be null). The appealing party does not need to appeal to the metropolitan; the party can instead appeal to the Holy See, in which case the Roman Rota would hear the case in the second instance. If the case was before the Rota in the first instance, then a different panel of the Rota hears it in the second instance.

With the exception of cases regarding personal status, if the first instance and second instance tribunals agree on the result of the case, then the case becomes '' res judicata'' and there is no further appeal. If they disagree, then the case can be appealed to the Roman Rota, which serves as the ''tribunal of third instance''. The Rota is a court of fifteen judges called ''auditors'' who take cases in panels of three and serve as the final arbiters of most cases.

There is no appeal from a court case that the Pope has decided personally.

Other tribunals

The Roman Curia has two other tribunals which either deal with specialized cases or which do not deal with cases at all. The first is the Apostolic Signatura, a panel of five cardinals which serves as the highest court in the Roman Catholic Church. Normal cases rarely reach the Signatura, the exception being if a party appeals to the Pope and he assigns the case to them or if the Pope on his own initiative pulls a case from another court and gives it to them. The court mainly handles cases regarding the use of administrative power, including penal cases which were decided using executive instead of judicial power, which is the usual case. It also handles disputes between dicasteries and other tribunals over jurisdiction, complaints that a Rotal decision is null and should be retried, and matters regarding advocates and inter-diocesan tribunals.

There is normally no right of appeal from the decision of the Apostolic Signatura (can. 1629 #1); however, laypersons and clerics have, on rare occasions, convinced the Pope to hear their case afterwards. This is usually reserved for cases where they are facing excommunication or some other form of severe censure, such as the loss of the right to teach theology or to administer the sacraments. A theologian and priest, who faced censure, got Pope John Paul II to hear his case and even asked the Pope to alter his own decision, though the Pope did not reverse the ruling in either case.

The other tribunal is the Apostolic Penitentiary. This tribunal has no jurisdiction in what is known as "the external forum", meaning cases and events which are publicly known, only matters of the "internal forum", which involve entirely confidential and secret matters, including (but not limited to) what is confessed in the Sacrament of Penance. It primarily deals with cases that arise only within the confessional and which by their nature are private, confidential or whose facts are secret. Such cases are normally brought before the court by a person's confessor, who writes up the relevant facts of the cases, but only what is absolutely necessary, using standardized Latin pseudonyms. The confidentiality of the person, and the priest's absolute obligation to preserve the secrecy of the Sacrament of Penance, are still in force in such cases. This court, under the authority of the Cardinal Major Penitentiary, who acts in the Pope's name, answers the confessor and empowers him to impose a penance and lift a penalty. For instance, the act of desecrating the Eucharist is one which incurs an automatic excommunication for the person who so acts (an excommunication from the moment of the act, which no court need actually meet to impose), and the power to lift this excommunication is reserved by the Pope to himself. Should this person then approach a priest in confession, repentant, and explain his act and the fact that he acted in secret, the confessor would write to the tribunal laying out the simplest outline of facts, keeping the person's identity secret, and would most likely be empowered to lift the excommunication and impose some private act of penance on the person.

Anglican Communion

Church of England

In the Church of England, the ecclesiastical courts are a system of courts, held by authority of the Crown, who is ''ex officio'' the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The courts have jurisdiction over matters dealing with the rights and obligations of church members, now limited to controversies in areas of church property and ecclesiastical disciplinary proceedings. In England these courts, unlike common law courts, are based upon and operate along civil law procedures and Canon law-based jurisprudence.

The ecclesiastical courts formerly had jurisdiction over the personal estates of deceased persons to grant probate or administration. This jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts was transferred to the Court of Probate by the Court of Probate Act 1857.

Offences against ecclesiastical laws are dealt with differently based on whether the laws in question involve church doctrine. For non-doctrinal cases, the lowest level of the court is the '' Archdeaconry Court'', which is presided over by the local archdeacon. The next court in the hierarchy is the bishop's court, which is in the Diocese of Canterbury called the ''Commissary Court'' and in other dioceses the ''consistory court''. The Commissary Court is presided over by a commissary-general; a consistory Court is presided over by a chancellor. The chancellor or commissary-general must be thirty years old and either have a seven-year general qualification under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 section 71 or have held high judicial office.

Specialist courts in the Province of Canterbury are the Court of Faculties, the Court of Peculiars and the Court of the Vicar-General of the Province of Canterbury. In the northern province there is the Court of the Vicar-General of the Province of York.

The next court is the archbishop's court, which is in Canterbury called the '' Arches Court'', and in York the '' Chancery Court''. Each court includes five judges; one judge is common to both courts. The common judge is called the Dean of Arches in Canterbury and the Auditor in York; he or she is appointed jointly by both archbishops with the approval of the Crown, and must either hold a ten-year High Court qualification under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, s 71, or have held high judicial office. Two members of each court must be clergy appointed by the Prolocutor of the Lower House of the provincial convocation. Two further members of each court are appointed by the Chairman of the House of Laity of the General Synod; these must possess such legal qualifications as the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain requires.

In cases involving church doctrine, ceremony or ritual, the aforementioned courts have no jurisdiction. Instead, the '' Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved'' hears the case. The Court is composed of three diocesan bishops and two appellate judges; it has jurisdiction over both of the provinces of Canterbury and York. The Court, however, meets very rarely.

Appeal from the Arches Court and Chancery Court (in non-doctrinal cases) lies to the King-in-Council. In practice, the case is heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which includes present and former Lords Chancellor, a number of Lords of Appeal and other high judicial officers. The King-in-Council does not have jurisdiction over doctrinal cases from the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved, which instead go to an ''ad hoc'' Commission of Review, composed of two diocesan bishops and three Lords of Appeal (who are also members of the Judicial Committee).

Commissions of Convocation are appointed by the Upper House of the Convocation of Canterbury or of York to try a bishop for an offence (except for an offence of doctrine). Both Convocations make the appointment if an Archbishop is prosecuted. This would comprise four diocesan bishops and the Dean of the Arches.

The Ecclesiastical Courts Acts 1787 to 1860 is the collective title of the following Acts:
*The Ecclesiastical Suits Act 1787 (27 Geo 3 c 44)
*The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1813 (53 Geo 3 c 127)
*The Proctors (Ireland) Act 1814 (54 Geo 3 c 68)
*The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1829 (10 Geo 4 c 53)
*The Privy Council Appeals Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will 4 c 92)
*The Ecclesiastical Courts (Contempt) Act 1832 (3 & 4 Will 4 c 93)
*The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1840 (3 & 4 Vict c 93)
*The Ecclesiastical Courts Act 1844