AUDITOR OF THE ROTA. - I. In the ancient law of the Church, auditor was considered to be the person to whom the instruction of a case was entrusted; it is in the Decretales that this specific appellation is found, together with others: "cui medium causae committitur sive cognitor aut executor dicatur, vel, quod melius est, auditor." This jurisdiction, undoubtedly of the highest importance, was entrusted by the Pontiff especially to cardinals, chaplains and subdeacons: initially, however, the power of decision was excluded in those invested with it, a power which instead came subsequently to be attributed to certain particular categories, the auditores S. R. Rotae, the auditor Camerae Apostolicae, the auditor S.mi as well as the auditor of the conclave and of the apostolic nuncio.
II. The auditor of the S. R. R., although it had begun to take shape at the time of the constitution of the tribunal (v. TRIBUNALE DELLA S. SEDE, III), which had its own chancery (in which judicial acts were drawn up, as well as rescripts of grace and of justice) and its own auditorium (the place where cases were heard), assumed a clear and precise juridical configuration with the constitution Ad regimen of Benedict XII of 10 January 1335, when it was distinguished from the other chaplains and considered a true official: the same Pontiff gave the auditors a special seat in Avignon.
At present, the tribunal of the Rota, which constitutes, together with the Apostolic Signatura, the ordinary tribunal of the Holy See, is composed, by direct election on the part of the Supreme Pontiff, of a certain number of auditors, a number which has varied several times. In fact, in the 15th century Sixtus IV (30 April 1472) prescribed the number of 12; in the Regulae speciales of 1908 the members of the tribunal were reduced to ten, and today, on the basis of the Normae of 29 June 1934 in force, the number remains unspecified, all the more so since the CIC itself does not determine a fixed number (can. 1598 § 1).
Over the course of the centuries the faculty of appointing some members of this authoritative college was reserved to the highest civil hierarchies: thus the king of Spain had the right to appoint two, one for Castile and the other for Aragon, and Germany and France too could choose their own auditor. In the 16th century Julius II granted this faculty to the city of Bologna, Pius IV to Milan, Sixtus V to the Venetian Republic, Clement VIII to Ferrara and Urban VIII to Perugia.
III. With the constitution Sapienti consilio of Pius X of 1908, the tribunal of the Rota acquired a new vigorous impulse, so much so that it could legitimately acquire the fame of the most considerable tribunal in the world; the CIC, then, and the Normae published in 1914 have given the tribunal and its members a definitive constitution.
The prelate auditors currently composing the tribunal are fifteen; they are presided over by the dean, "qui primus est inter pares" (can. 1598 § 1). During the vacancy of the dean, the one "qui primam sedem post decanum obtinet" holds such office ipso iure (art. 3 § 2 of the Normae). The order of precedence of the auditors in the sessions is the following: after the dean sits the one whose appointment is most ancient; where appointments are equal, the one who received priestly ordination earlier; and in the case of equal ordination, the elder in age.
The members of this college must be, besides priests, holders at least of a degree in utroque iure (can. 1598 § 1), of mature age, of upright life, distinguished for prudence and juridical culture (art. 2 § 1 Normae). They are elected exclusively by the Roman Pontiff, and, generally, they cannot be removed from office except through promotion, or upon having reached the age of 75; in which case they become emeriti. Before the auditor is invested with the office he must take the ritual oath "de munere fideliter implendo" before the entire college, and he is rigorously bound to preserve official secrecy.
The college of the rotal auditors is divided into turns of three judges, or it may decide videntibus omnibus (can. 1598 § 4); the Pontiff may also, in special cases, establish a different number of members of the turn. Each turn constitutes an equal section of the same tribunal and at the same time is a tribunal of appeal for the decisions issued by the preceding turn. Each judging turn has the ponens, designated by the dean, who, utpote praeses turni, directs the entire process. The dean represents the tribunal, and to it are addressed the decisions of the supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; he assigns the cases to the different turns, provides for the replacement of impeded auditors, and also examines in limine, together with the two first auditors, whether the cases are to be treated in the administrative or the judicial forum.
IV. The questions judged by this authoritative Tribunal reflect: 1) the cases to be treated by competence in second instance, which were already decided in first degree either before a diocesan tribunal or before the tribunal of the vicariate of Rome; 2) the cases to be treated in third instance, which were already examined in first and second degree either by the Rota itself or by the lower tribunals with a sentence not yet definitive; 3) the cases reserved by the Holy Father to his tribunal and remitted by pontifical commission for treatment in first instance to the Rota (can. 1599); besides petitions for restoration in integrum.