DEFENDER OF THE BOND. – The office of the defender of the bond (difensore del vincolo), together with that of the promoter of justice, who intervenes in contentious and penal cases of public interest, may be said to be analogous to that of the public prosecutor in a civil judicial system; however, these offices or organs cannot be considered in canon law as emanations of the executive power, since in the law of the Church there does not appear to be a principle of a strict separation of powers.
The defender of the bond is a special office created for the purpose of providing, as the name indicates, for the defense of the bond in cases concerning marriage (nullity or dispensation from a ratified but unconsummated marriage) and Holy Orders.
The intervention of the defender of the bond in the aforesaid cases is mandatory, and in the absence of such intervention, the process is null with regard to acts performed without prior citation of the defender of the bond (CIC, can. 1587). This nullity, however, may be remedied if the defender of the bond, though not cited, intervenes voluntarily in the proceedings.
It should also be noted that if the defender of the bond, though cited, fails to appear, the acts performed in his absence must be communicated to him so that he may present such observations and conclusions as he deems appropriate.
According to can. 1588, a single person may perform the functions of both defender of the bond and promoter of justice, unless such a combination is prohibited or impracticable, as occurs when the promoter of justice impugns the validity of the marriage. The activity of the defender of the bond (unlike that of the promoter of justice) is a constrained activity, since he is always obliged to argue in favor of the validity of the bond, though the promoter of justice may, for reasons of public interest, request that the nullity of the bond itself be declared. Conversely, the bishop exercises no such *auctoritas* over the defender of the bond as he does over the promoter of justice (cf. can. 1954 § 3 nn. 1, 2, and 3).
Among the duties of the defender of the bond, in addition to the fundamental one of doing all that is necessary for the defense of the bond, is the obligation to appeal against a first-instance sentence declaring nullity (even if preceded by another that rejected the petition for nullity). He may also appeal from a sentence confirming the nullity of another sentence of the same nature.
The defender of the bond (like the promoter of justice) is appointed by the bishop, who selects him from among the priests of the diocese who meet the requirements prescribed by can. 1589 (sound reputation, knowledge of canon law, and qualities of prudence and justice). Such an appointment may be made either generally for any proceedings in which he is to take part or limited to specific proceedings.
See, moreover, regarding the duties of the defender of the bond in the conduct of the process, the norms contained in cann. 1672, 1745, 1759, 1773, 1830, 1863, 1968, 1969, 1984, and 1991. These pertain both to the preparatory phase (such as, for example, the obligation to be always present during the examination of the parties and during the examination of witnesses and experts, and the duty to present to the judge the interrogatories to be proposed to the parties and witnesses) and to the trial phase (such as, for example, the obligation for the defender of the bond to present his observations or *animadversiones*).
The defender of the bond has the right to be heard last in the discussion of the case and has the power, when public interest so requires, to continue on his own initiative proceedings that have lapsed due to the contumacy of the plaintiff (can. 1850) and to lodge a complaint of falsity against sentences issued without observance of the prescribed formalities (can. 1897 § 1).
The defender of the bond, like the promoter of justice, may be removed from office for just cause by the bishop (can. 1590 § 2), and it is also possible to apply the penal sanctions provided for in can. 1625 for judges.
In cases concerning the dismissal of a professed religious with perpetual vows in a clerical exempt religious institute, functions analogous to those of the defender of the bond are exercised by the defender of religious profession (CIC, cann. 655 § 2 and 1589 § 2).