Summons

SUMMONS. - This term designates the act by which the summons to appear in court is notified. It is precisely in criminal matters that this term finds its full application, although it is not found in the CIC in its original wording, but rather in a derived one: its origin goes back to Roman sources (cf. Cod. Iust., p. 40, 1).

In the present definition only the summons has been mentioned because it is the most common case, but it is not excluded that the i. may also be used to notify other judicial acts. The person designated by law to carry out these juridical precepts is the cursor (can. 1591). Only for the summons are binding norms laid down for the i., which can be remedied by the appearance of the party summoned (cann. 1715-22). The CIC also uses this term to indicate the act by which a collegiate moral person notifies the person elected of his election (can. 175). A. Blat, Commentarium textus codicis iuris canonici, I, Rome 1921, p. 146) states that this prescription does not apply to religious when it concerns ecclesiastical offices of their Order, and he supports this assertion of his with the passage of Boniface VIII (c. 27, De electione, I, 6 in 6°); this opinion cannot be accepted, since the fragment speaks only of the consent of the Superior, required in order to accept offices outside the Order or the religious house. Furthermore, the i. is also required for the deprivation of an ecclesiastical office (can. 192 § 3). Van Hove (De privilegiis et de dispensationibus, Malines 1939, p. 52) designates with this term the act by which a privilege is notified, although he does not admit that the i. of a privilege is required for its efficacy, as other authors maintain; he also uses this term for the notification of the revocation of a privilege (op. cit., p. 211) and admits the necessity of the i. of revocation for a dispensation: it can be carried out by letter, through third persons, and verbally.

Special mention deserves the Intimatio which the prefect of the Apostolic Ceremonies is accustomed to send, «de mandato Sanctissimi D. N. Papa», to the cardinals and to all prelates who have the privilege of attending the sacred functions of the pontifical Chapel. In it, besides the hour and the place, the vesture proper to each function is also determined. Not only for liturgical solemnities, but also for consistories and other special gatherings, the i. is customarily sent. During a vacant see the i. is given by order of the cardinal camerlengo of Holy Roman Church or of the cardinal dean of the Sacred College, according to their respective competences.