ACTOR. - In procedural law, this term (from the Latin actor) designates the person who brings another before a court, that is, the party who is the first to submit a judicial claim. The person against whom the claim is brought is instead called the defendant or accused (from the Latin reus).
According to the CIC, anyone may act as a., provided, of course, that he enjoys full procedural capacity (can. 1646); but as a rule no one is under an obligation to bring an action unless compelled to do so by a reason of public interest, as, for example, the promoter of justice in criminal cases and sometimes in matrimonial cases. In every case, the burden rests upon the a. of proving in fact and in law the sound basis of his claim (can. 1748, § 1).
BIBL.: G. Chiovenda, Principi di diritto processuale, 3rd ed., Naples 1923, p. 570 ff.; Wernz-Vidal VI, p. 169 ff.; F. Roberti, De processibus, I, Rome 1941, p. 534 ff.; F. Dalla Rocca, Istituzioni di diritto processuale canonico, Turin 1946, passim. Ferruccio Liuzzi