PERQUISIZIONE

SEARCH AND SEIZURE. — It is a coercive search carried out to secure material elements of proof for a trial or to arrest a suspect or an escapee.

The effective conduct of a trial sometimes requires the availability of certain objects or the presence of specific individuals. The law ensures this through procedural coercion, of which a particular application is precisely the searches ordered by the judge.

I. IN ITALIAN LAW. — Since in Italy searches are permitted as exceptions to the normal safeguards of individual liberty, the law sets out specific rules in articles 333–335 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; the special discipline of searches is indeed inspired by the need to limit and regulate the necessary restrictions on those freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution (articles 13 and 14) and to avoid violating personal modesty, especially that of women.

Searches are personal and domiciliary. The term "domicile" here is not used in the technical sense of article 43 of the Civil Code, but rather to mean an individual’s residence. Searches may occur before the trial, during formal instruction, or even during the trial itself. They are ordered by the magistrate through an unmotivated decree and, if necessary, are carried out with the assistance of public force (articles 332 of the Penal Code). A record of every search is drawn up immediately after the operation is completed (articles 336 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The items sought and found during searches are seized. In particular, a personal search differs from a bodily inspection (articles 310 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) in that the latter is aimed at directly ascertaining an element of proof, whereas the former is not intended to immediately acquire proof but rather to secure items that may be suitable as evidence. Searches also fall within the activities of the judicial police (articles 224 of the Code of Civil Procedure) and are expressly provided for in numerous special laws of an administrative nature.

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II. IN CANON LAW. — In the procedure for beatification (v.), the term "search" (*perquisitio scriptorum in causis sanctorum*) refers to a particularly thorough judicial inquiry (canons 2044 §1, 2046, 2047 §§1–2), through which the writings of a Servant of God are collected, whether the cause of beatification proceeds *via non cultus* (canon 2038 §2 n. 1) or *via cultus* (canon 2127 n. 1). The terms *processus scriptorum* and *processiculus diligentiarum* are also used, though the latter properly denotes only the set of procedural acts (or diligences) undertaken in the search (canon 2061).

A) PURPOSE AND TIME OF THE SEARCH.
1. **Purpose.** — The search has the following aims:
a) to ensure that there is nothing in the writings of a Servant of God that is contrary to faith and good morals, which could constitute a peremptory obstacle to beatification (canon 2038 §1);
b) to avoid, in case of an obstacle, the waste of time and money in preparing subsequent processes (Benedict XIV, *ep. Sollicitudini*, 1 Oct. 1745);
c) to gain a general understanding of the Servant of God’s character, habits of virtue, or lack thereof (canon 2068).
This is achieved through the "review of writings," a judgment by two or three theological censors, discussed in the ordinary Congregation (canons 2068–72), as soon as the process of the writings is received by the Congregation of Rites from the Ordinary (canon 2065). The introduction of the cause cannot take place unless it is legally established, among other things, that the doctrine of the Servant of God is pure and that no insurmountable obstacle exists (canon 2038 §1).

2. **Time.** — Since the search is in function of the review, it must be carried out during the ordinary or pre-introductory stage of the cause; preferably either before the informative process on fame (*processus informativus super fama*) or during that process (canons 2038 §1 n. 1, 2127 n. 1, 2052). The only exception contemplated by the Code of Canon Law concerns the causes of martyrs, in which the search may take place even after the introduction of the cause; in such cases, however, the Ordinary acts not *iure proprio* but *iure delegato* by the Apostolic See and in accordance with the instructions of the Promoter General of the Faith (canon 2048).

B) COMPETENT AUTHORITY AND OBJECT OF THE SEARCH.
1. **Competent authority.** — For the search, as for other ordinary processes, the competent authority is the local Ordinary (canons 1938 §2 and 2002) of the place where the Servant of God died or where miracles occurred (canon 2039 §1) if the cause proceeds *via non cultus*; or where public cult is rendered or where the relevant documents are found if the cause proceeds *via cultus*, always subject to the right of prevention in the case of multiple Ordinaries (canons 2126 and 1568).

2. **Object.** — In the broadest sense, the object of the search includes all writings authored by the Servant of God: published or unpublished, of a public, private, or intimate nature, long or short, written in their own hand or dictated by them (canon 2042). Even the writings of Supreme Pontiffs proposed for beatification are subject to the search; the only exceptions are those which "have the force of law" or pertain to "matters and governance of the universal Church... when they proceed from the Pope or are taught *ex cathedra* as the supreme Leader and Shepherd of the Church" (Benedict XIV, *De servo Dei beatificando et canonizando*, lib. II, cap. 26, art. 4, Venice 1764, p. 164 sq.).

C) CONSTITUTION OF THE TRIBUNAL AND VARIOUS ACTS.
1. **The tribunal.** — Following a petition (*libellus supplex*) by the postulator of the cause (canons 2038 §2 and 2127), provided it is deemed admissible (canon 2038 and the encyclical letter of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 12 March 1631), or *ex officio* (canon 2044), the local Ordinary, in accordance with canon 2040 §§1–2, must first, by means of a specific decree or rescript, constitute the tribunal, which may consist of either one or three judges acting collegially; the Promoter of the Faith (canons 2011 §§1–2); the notary (canon 2113 §1); and the *cursor* (canon 2037 §3). A single-judge tribunal may be constituted only when the local Ordinary (canons 1999 §3 and 2002, excluding the Vicar General) and 2039 §1) reserves to himself the duty of initiating the process (canon 2040 §§1–2); or when this duty is entrusted to a bishop. In all other cases, a collegial tribunal is formed with a delegated judge and two assessors, chosen from among the synodal judges.

2. **The edict.** — Among the initial acts of the search, the first is the promulgation of the edict or public notice, in the vernacular and in printed form, by which the Ordinary commands—also attaching spiritual penalties—all the faithful under his jurisdiction to report to the tribunal within a specified time any writings of the Servant of God, regardless of their nature, content, or form, whether possessed by themselves or others (canons 2023–25, 2042–43 §1). If the Servant of God in question was a religious, the edict must also be published in the individual houses of his institute (canons 458, 2043 §2, 2025 §2, 3). For every good purpose, the Code of Canon Law particularly obliges the Promoter of the Faith to ensure that the publication of the edict occurs wherever it may be deemed necessary or appropriate (canon 2043 §3).

3. Examination and Oaths

After the time fixed in the edict has elapsed, the judicial examination of those who have presented the writings takes place, together with the delivery of the writings, and, as is obvious, of the postulator, who, in addition to the oath already taken, must now, among other things, swear that he has diligently completed his private and collateral inquiry (can. 2047). For a Servant of God who is a religious, the Superior General of her Congregation must swear that she has made a diligent inquiry, that she has delivered all the writings she had, and that she is not aware that other persons, even outsiders, still retain any writings (can. 2047). When the inquiry concerns a monastery of enclosure, the tribunal itself must go there and perform the necessary acts.

4. Particular Cases

During the course of the inquiry, the following cases, among others, may arise: a) that someone has failed to comply with the duty to present the writings; b) that the person presenting them wishes to retain the autographs; c) that the writings are presented only in copy, already prepared; d) that some writings are found in another diocese; e) or in a public library or archive. In the first case, the tribunal will act according to the circumstances, either by having the notary send an appropriate summons or in another manner. In the second case, it will have a special authentic copy made (can. 2045 § 1). In the third case, it may be satisfied with the copy, provided that its authenticity is certain. For the fourth case, a rogatory process is provided for (can. 2044 § 2); for the fifth, the provisions of can. 2036 § 2, 3 apply (can. 2045 § 2).

5. Acts and Writings

It is the duty of the notary to describe diligently not only all the acts performed by the tribunal or by its order, from the first to the last, but also the number and nature of the writings (can. 2042), so that a complete catalogue results; these acts must then be signed by the Ordinary or his delegate and sealed with the seal of the Ordinary (can. 2046).

6. Summary Form of the Inquiry

If the Ordinary is certain that all the writings have already been collected by the postulator or by someone else, or that they have all been lost, or again that the Servant of God has written nothing and never dictated anything, the tribunal may restrict the inquiry to a single act in which, not without the due solemnities, the writings and the deposition of the postulator or witness are received, or only the instrument of constatation of non-existence is drawn up.

7. Transmission of the Process to Rome

Since the examination and judgment of the writings is reserved to the Sacred Congregation of Rites (Review, can. 2065), the Ordinary, after completing the inquiry, must transmit the collected writings to Rome, together with an authentic copy of the record of the diligences (the original remains in the archive of the Curia), duly signed by the tribunal and sealed with the seal of the Ordinary (can. 2061). The package will be accompanied by the letters of the Ordinary to the Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.

8. Discovery of Other Writings

If, after the inquiry and during the course of the cause, other writings come to light, these, without any further solemn process, must be sent immediately to the Sacred Congregation of Rites (to the Cardinal Prefect or to the Promoter General of the Faith), which will not proceed further in the cause until the new writings have undergone review (can. 2062).