Canon & Civil Law
Diritto Canonico E Civile · 333 articles · Principal contributors · All subjectsParticular Questions (Questioni particolari)
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Legitimate Defense (DIFESA LEGITTIMA)
LEGITIMATE DEFENSE. - One who, having been compelled by the necessity of defending a right of his own or of another, concerning personal… -
Legitimation for Legal Acts (LEGITTIMAZIONE AGLI ATTI GIURIDICI)
LEGITIMATION FOR LEGAL ACTS. - Legitimation for juridical acts or transactions (the terms act or juridical transaction are used… -
Lenocinium (LENOCINIO)
LENOCINIUM. - It is an intermediary activity in the service of another's lust with a view to one's own profit. In doctrine, the notion of… -
Level (LIVELLO)
LEVEL. — This name was given to a special form of agrarian contract, by which a grantor (livellante) conferred the usufruct of a piece of… -
Libellus (LIBELLO)
LIBELLUS. - It is the written act of a party by which the subject matter of the suit that is to be brought is proposed to the competent… -
Licitation (LICITAZIONE)
LICITATION. - It is the offer of a price made by several persons who take part, in competition with one another, in a sale by auction or… -
Litigation Pending (LITE PENDENTE)
LITIGATION PENDING. - I. CONCEPT. - In the common legal acceptation, the concept of a pending suit, or lis pendens, is meant to signify the… -
Loan for Use (COMODATO)
LOAN FOR USE. - It is a contract by which one of the contracting parties (the lender) delivers to the other (the borrower) a movable or… -
Maggiorascato
MAGGIORASCATO. - I. GENERAL CONCEPT. - The m. or maggiorasco is a form of fideicommissum (v.), which came into use in the Middle Ages,… -
Magister Officiorum
MAGISTER OFFICIORUM. - He is one of the great central officials of the absolute Roman Empire, that is, as it came to be defined following… -
Metropolitan (METROPOLITA)
METROPOLITAN. - He is the bishop who presides over an ecclesiastical province and has under him other bishops, called "suffragans" (from… -
Mixed Religion (MISTA RELIGIONE)
MIXED RELIGION. - I. NOTION AND NATURE. - Mixed religion (mixta religio), together with the simple vow (v.) and legal cognation (v.) (but… -
Mutilation (MUTILAZIONE)
MUTILATION. - By m. is meant the cutting off or extirpation (here also any equivalent action, e.g., complete and perfect atrophy) by which… -
Name (NOME)
NAME. - It is a general means of language, suited to indicate any conceivable entity; but it acquires particular social and juridical… -
Non-Catholic (ACATTOLICÓ)
NON-CATHOLIC. - By "a.," according to the etymology (privative a and καθόλιλος), is meant anyone who is not a Catholic; therefore: 1) in… -
Novali
NOVALI. - With this name there were designated, from the Middle Ages onward, plots of land that were brought under cultivation for the… -
Novitiate (NOVIZIATO)
NOVITIATE. - In the material sense it is the time that an aspirant to a religious order spends in a house specially erected for that… -
Oblations (OBLAZIONI)
OBLATIONS. - A generic term, liturgical and juridical, used ab antiquo to indicate the spontaneous offerings made by the faithful in church… -
Obrogation (OBROGAZIONE)
OBROGATION. - Obrogation (ob-rogare, that is, contra rogare) is a change to an already existing law made in such a way that, a part having… -
Odium Plebis
ODIUM PLEBIS. - It is one of the causes provided for by the CIC for the removal (v.) of a parish priest. Already in the law of the… -
Opposition of Third (OPPOSIZIONE DI TERZO)
OPPOSITION OF THIRD. - It is one of the means of impugnment against a judgment (v.), and precisely the one granted to a person who, being a… -
Oracula Vivae Vocis
ORACULA VIVAE VOCIS. - These are privileges granted orally by the competent authority. The institution goes back to the time of St. Gregory… -
Organic Articles (ARTICOLI ORGANICI)
ORGANIC ARTICLES. - This name designates the 77 provisions that the French law of 18 Germinal, Year X (= 8 April 1802), ratifying the… -
Palatine Churches and Chapels (PALATINE CHIESE E CAPPELLE)
PALATINE CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. - These are those which, because they were destined to satisfy the religious needs of the Head of a State… -
Papal Letters (LETTERE PONTIFICIE)
PAPAL LETTERS. - A generic term used to indicate any kind of letter issued by the Roman Pontiff as a public person of the Church; the… -
Parental Authority (PATRIA POTESTÀ)
PARENTAL AUTHORITY. - I. NOTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE. - The legal institution of patria potestas may be defined as the complex of rights and… -
Parish (PARROCCHIA)
PARISH. - It is an institution of ecclesiastical origin, arising within the ambit of the diocese for the direct care of souls included in a… -
Parish Priest (PARROCO)
PARISH PRIEST. - He is a priest or a moral person to whom a parish (v.) is conferred in title, with the care of souls, to be exercised in… -
Parish Registers (LIBRI PARROCCHIALI)
PARISH REGISTERS. - They are believed to have had a very ancient origin (they would be spoken of in Nov. 74, IV, 1-2 of Justinian). In the… -
Parties (in Judgment) (PARTI (NEL GIUDIZIO))
PARTS (IN JUDGMENT). - Parties are natural or juridical persons who bring a claim or against whom a claim is brought for the application of… -
Patriarchs (PATRIARCHI)
PATRIARCHS. - I. ORIGINS. - Already canon 6 of the Council of Nicaea (325) recognized as invested with a special supremacy the bishops of… -
Patrimony of Saint Peter (PATRIMONIO DI SAN PIETRO)
PATRIMONY OF SAINT PETER. - Originally this was the name given to the whole body of landed property of the Church of Rome, by analogy with… -
Pauline Privilege (PRIVILEGIO PAOLINO)
PAULINE PRIVILEGE. - The p. p. is the case of dissolution of a legitimate marriage, granted in favor of the faith by positive divine law; a… -
Pellegrini (Peregrini et Vagi)
PELLEGRINI (PEREGRINI ET VAGI) - In canon law, a peregrinus is one who for any reason is momentarily in a place other than that in which he… -
Penal Remedy (RIMEDIO PENALE)
PENAL REMEDY. - By p. r. is meant all those means that the competent ecclesiastical authority uses for the purpose of preventing a crime,… -
Penance (PENA)
PENANCE. - It is, in general, the suffering (privation or diminution of an individual good) imposed by law upon one who violates a command… -
Penitentiary Canon (CANONICO PENITENZIERE)
PENITENTIARY CANON. - In every cathedral church there must exist, as far as possible, the office of canon penitentiary, which may also be… -
Perenzione
PEREMPTION. - In canon law it can mean the cessation of the right of action, or it can indicate a manner in which the instance of a lawsuit… -
Perito
EXPERT. - The expert has been defined as a delegate of the judge for an investigation and an evaluation of the facts, which the judge will… -
Personal Injury (LESIONE PERSONALE)
PERSONAL INJURY. - There is personal injury in Italian criminal law when, without intent to kill, one causes another a harm to the body,… -
Pia Foundation (Pious Cause) (FONDAZIONE PIA (CAUSA PIA))
PIOUS FOUNDATION (PIOUS CAUSE). SUMMARY: I. Concept of a foundation. - II. The so-called causae piae. - III. Benefices, chaplaincies and… -
Pieve
PIEVE. - A name that is found attributed, in Italy, to a parish or even to villages or towns. Its origin must be sought in the word plebs,… -
Pious Legate (LEGATO PIO)
PIOUS LEGATE. - A pious bequest is a modal bequest, in which the modus is a pious purpose of charity or religion. SUMMARY: I. Notion. - II.… -
Pious Union (UNIONE PIA)
PIOUS UNION. - It is an association of the faithful established for a purpose of piety or charity. It is not strictly required that it be a… -
Pledge, Right of (PEGNO, DIRITTO DI)
PLEDGE, Right of. - I. NOTION. - It is the ius in re by which the creditor has a special guarantee over a movable good and constitutes one… -
Pontifical Protectorate (PROTETTORIA PONTIFICIA)
PONTIFICAL PROTECTORATE. - The p. p. is a particular tutelage of the Roman Pontiff extended to religious Orders, abbeys, religious… -
Pope (PAPA)
POPE. - From the Greek πάππας, πάπας (= father), an honorific title now reserved in the Catholic Church to the Supreme Pontiff. SUMMARY: I.… -
Positio
POSITIO. - It is the written document in which a fact is set forth and asserted before an authority. In ancient law, the term p. denoted… -
Postulancy And Postulant (POSTULATO E POSTULANTE)
POSTULANCY AND POSTULANT. - In the strict sense, p. is the period of time during which the aspirant to a religious order is considered such… -
Precaria
PRECARIA. - Name of an agrarian contract that was widely diffused especially between the 6th and 12th centuries. As a rule its object was… -
Precedence (PRECEDENZA)
PRECEDENCE. - It is the right to precede other persons and therefore to have the most noble place in assemblies and functions of a public… -
Precept (PRECETTO)
PRECEPT. - I. NOTION. - It is a command given by the competent authority for a determined period of time, or even in perpetuity, to… -
Preconization (PRECONIZZAZIONE)
PRECONIZATION. - It is the proclamation of the elevation of an ecclesiastic to the episcopal or cardinalatial dignity. It is carried out… -
Preliminary Questions (PREGIUDIZIALI, QUESTIONI)
PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. - These are the questions that in a given judicial proceeding must be resolved preliminarily, since their decision… -
Premarital Examination (PREMATRIMONIALE, VISITA)
PREMARITAL EXAMINATION. - A medical examination imposed or recommended, according to the various nations, on those intending to enter into… -
Primatial See (PRIMAZIALE, SEDE)
PRIMATIAL SEE. - It is that cathedral church over which presides a bishop adorned with the title of primate over a determined region. As… -
Privilege (PRIVILEGIO)
PRIVILEGE. - A juridical norm contained in the law or issued by a superior for the benefit of a category or of a person. From the sources… -
Privileges of the Clergy (PRIVILEGI DEI CHIERICI)
PRIVILEGES OF THE CLERICS. - These are special immunities that form part of the broader category of ecclesiastical immunity (v.) and… -
Probation (PROBANDATO)
PROBATION. - By p. is meant that period of time which the aspirant to the religious life places before the postulancy (v.) or the novitiate… -
Process (PROCESSO)
PROCESS. - In a broad sense, "process" means a body of norms that regulate and govern any procedure directed toward the ascertainment and… -
Procurator General (PROCURATORE GENERALE)
PROCURATOR GENERAL. - In canon law, he is the religious who ordinarily handles with the Roman Curia the affairs of the religious society to… -
Progeny (PROLE)
PROGENY. - From proles, it is offspring, that is, the aggregate of children, the subject of rights and duties within the family. The… -
Promise (PROMESSA)
PROMISE. - It is the cause of an obligatory relationship, unilateral or bilateral, produced by the will of one or more persons who freely… -
Promoter of the Faith (PROMOTORE DELLA FEDE)
PROMOTER OF THE FAITH. - The P. of the F. (quaesitor de honoribus caelestium) is the priest who by office must safeguard the rights of the… -
Property (PROPRIETÀ)
PROPERTY. - A juridical term indicating the relationship of eminent sovereignty or dominion that a person (individual or collective,… -
Public Official (UFFICIALE, PUBBLICO)
PUBLIC OFFICIAL. - Officialis, ab officio, is generally the natural person holding a public office. Their relationship with the State or… -
Puntatori (PUNT'ATORI)
PUNTATORI. - This is the name given to those who in each Chapter, cathedral or collegiate, must be elected, with the task of marking those… -
Quasi Contract (QUASI CONTRATTO)
QUASI CONTRACT. - It is, according to doctrine and in certain positive legal systems (among them the Italian Civil Code of 1865), one of… -
Quasi Parish Priests (QUASI PARROCI)
QUASI PARISH PRIESTS. - They are secular priests or religious appointed to the quasi-parishes of the vicariates and apostolic prefectures.… -
Quinquennial, Relation (QUINQUENNALE, RELAZIONE)
QUINQUENNIAL, RELATION. - The obligation of the periodic report is inherent in the very nature of a subordinate office, for the sake of the… -
Rape (STUPRO)
RAPE. - In canon law, by rape is meant the carnal oppression of a virgin woman; whereas moralists extend rape to the oppression of any… -
Recognition (RICOGNIZIONE)
RECOGNITION. - The term r. denotes two entirely different institutions in their function and purpose. The one, common to the legislation of… -
Reconvention (RICONVENZIONE)
RECONVENTION. - It is the action that the defendant brings against the plaintiff, thereby becoming plaintiff in the reconvention itself.… -
Rector (RETTORE)
RECTOR. — From regere, it denotes in itself one who is the head of an institution. In common language it is often synonymous with director… -
Regalism (REGALISMO)
REGALISM. - This term designates that particular jurisdictional system (v. SEPARATISM) whose foundation was the hegemony of the state over… -
Regione Conciliare
REGIONE CONCILIARE. - This is the name given to the districts into which Italy was divided by the decree of 15 February 1919 of the Sacred… -
Relegation (RELEGAZIONE)
RELEGATION. - A penalty of the Roman imperial period, consisting in compulsory residence in a determined place or on an island, either in… -
Religious House (CASA RELIGIOSA)
RELIGIOUS HOUSE. - The smallest part of an Order, Congregation, or religious society, which exists as a community, is commonly called in… -
Removability (AMOVIBILITÀ)
REMOVABILITY. - Ecclesiastical offices are called irremovable (or also perpetual or titled) or removable (also called manual or temporary),… -
Removal (RIMOZIONE)
REMOVAL. - In a generic sense it indicates the authoritative removal of someone from an office or benefice; in a strict sense removal is… -
Reo and Conventus (REO E CONVENUTO)
REO AND CONVENTUS. - The word "reus" (defendant), in the CIC [Code of Canon Law], is sometimes (though in truth rarely) taken in the sense… -
Reparation (RIPARAZIONE)
REPARATION. - In ascetical usage, besides actual reparation (the restoration of man to his original integrity, the passage from corruption… -
Representation (In Legal Acts) (RAPPRESENTANZA (NEGLI ATTI GIURIDICI))
REPRESENTATION (IN LEGAL ACTS). - It is the institution by which one person intervenes to carry out a juridical transaction (v.) valid for… -
Reprobation of Testimonies (Reprobatio Attestationum) (RIPROVAZIONE DELLE TESTIMONIANZE (REPROBATIO ATTESTATIONUM))
REPROBATION OF TESTIMONIES (Reprobatio Attestationum). - It is a legal institution which the CIC, deriving it from the ius vetus, regulates… -
Res (COSA)
RES. - I. GENERAL NOTIONS. - In legal language, a "thing" is any portion of the external world suitable for use in satisfying human needs;… -
Rescission (Rescindibility) (RESCISSIONE (RESCINDIBILITÀ))
RESCISSION (RESCINDIBILITY). - Rescission is a means of preventing or removing the effects of an act that is valid in itself, in which the… -
Rescript (RESCRITTO)
RESCRIPT. - From re-scribere, it is any written reply. But already in the Latin sources it meant the reply or order, given in writing, by… -
Reserve and Reserved Cases (RISERVA E CASI RISERVATI)
RESERVE AND RESERVED CASES. - R., from the Latin verb reservare, evokes the idea of separation in order to dispose of something later, as… -
Residence (RESIDENZA)
RESIDENCE. - Etymologically (from residere) it indicates the place of prolonged, almost permanent and definitive stay, and is therefore… -
Resignation (Canon Law) (RINUNCIA (DIRITTO CANONICO))
RENUNCIATION (CANON LAW). - It is a form of manifestation of the power of disposition over rights. It consists in a pure and simple… -
Responsibility (RESPONSABILITÀ)
RESPONSIBILITY. - I. LAW. - It may be defined as subjection to the reaction that the legal order attaches to damage (v.). The legal effect… -
Restitution, "In Integrum" (RESTITUZIONE « IN INTEGRUM »)
RESTITUTION, "IN INTEGRUM". - It is defined by writers on canon law as the extraordinary legal remedy by which one who has been injured in… -
Retroactivity of the Law (RETROATTIVITÀ DELLA LEGGE)
RETROACTIVITY OF THE LAW. - The CIC has adopted the principle of the non-retroactivity of law, establishing that leges respiciunt futura,… -
Revocation (REVOCAZIONE)
REVOCATION. - In Church law the term has a single meaning and is embodied exclusively in an act performed by the competent legislative or… -
Rice Churches (RICETTIZIE, CHIESE)
RICE CHURCHES. - Receptitiae was the name given to those churches in which, at one time, only those who were natives of the place in which… -
Right Of Patronage (PATRONATO, DIRITTO DI)
RIGHT OF PATRONAGE. - It is a privilege, with attached obligations, belonging, by concession of the ecclesiastical authority, to the… -
Sabotage (SABOTAGGIO)
SABOTAGE. - S. (from the French sahoter, to walk in clogs and hence to behave insolently, to stamp one's feet) initially meant misleading… -
Sacking (SACCHEGGIO)
SACKING. - In its most common sense it is the act by which the movable goods of a city or a part of the territory of an enemy State are… -
Sacred Functions (FUNZIONI SACRE)
SACRED FUNCTIONS. - I. NOTION. - Sacred functions (funzione, from fungor, that is, exercise, performance) are the functions of the power of… -
Sacred Oratory (ORATORIA SACRA)
SACRED ORATORY. - It is the oral presentation of Christian truths, made by one who has the authority to do so, in order to call the hearers… -
Sacred Place (LUOGO SACRO)
SACRED PLACE. - I. CONCEPT. - A place is called sacred which, by virtue of consecration or liturgical blessing, is destined for the… -
Salic Law (SALICA, LEGGE)
SALIC LAW. - The most original of the barbarian laws (v.), almost immune to foreign influences, the oldest among those of the Frankish… -
Sanction (SANZIONE)
SANCTION. - From the Latin sancire, it indicates the solemnity of a sovereign act, whereby a law, a pact or a contract acquires the… -
Secular Arm (BRACCIO SECOLARE)
SECULAR ARM. - It is not known precisely when this expression began to be used. Today the CIC, can. 2198, uses it, but with a meaning… -
Sentence (SENTENZA)
SENTENCE. - It is the juridical act by which a lawsuit is concluded that has not ceased for other reasons (prescription, renunciation,… -
Sequestration (SEQUESTRO)
SEQUESTRATION. - It is a precautionary measure by virtue of which either a disputed thing is entrusted to a third party (sequestrator) to… -
Sicilian Monarchy (MONARCHIA SICULA)
SICILIAN MONARCHY. - From the beginning of the 16th century the name m. s. was given to the right, claimed by the kings of Sicily, to… -
Species Consecrated (Crime Against) (SPECIE CONSACRATE (DELITTO CONTRO LE))
CONSECRATED SPECIES (CRIME AGAINST THE). - The profanation of the Eucharist is a sacrilege, a real injury against God. Even in ancient… -
Stauropegion (STAUROPEGIO)
STAUROPEGION. - In Byzantine canon law, it denotes a privilege granted by the patriarch by virtue of which a place or a pious foundation is… -
Sterility (STERILITÀ)
STERILITY. - The term, collateral to that of impotence, is used in medico-legal language to indicate a particular defect in the efficacy of… -
Stole, Rights Of (STOLA, DIRITTI DI)
STOLE, Rights Of. - I. - By rights of the stole or stole fees (iura stolae) are meant the payments owed by the non-poor to parish priests… -
Summons (INTIMAZIONE)
SUMMONS. - This term designates the act by which the summons to appear in court is notified. It is precisely in criminal matters that this… -
Suretyship (FIDEIUSSIONE)
SURETYSHIP. - A contract by which one party, binding himself personally toward the creditor, guarantees to him the performance of another's… -
Suspicion (SUSPICIONE)
SUSPICION. - Suspicio, s., suspicion generally indicate a doubt or a judgment not fully proven, but founded on serious indications,… -
Tasse Ecclesiastiche
ECCLESIASTICAL TAXES. - They are, alongside spontaneous contributions - donations, dispositions of last will, oblations (v.) -, one of the… -
Tendency to Delinquency (TENDENZA A DELINQUERE)
TENDENCY TO DELINQUENCY. - The Italian Penal Code in force, departing from the conception of the classical school, which regarded crime as… -
Term (TERMINE)
TERM. - It is a point in time from which the effects of a juridical transaction (v.) begin to occur (dies a quo) or at which they cease… -
Territory of the State (TERRITORIO DELLO STATO)
TERRITORY OF THE STATE. - It is disputed whether territory is to be considered an essential element of the State, but for Italian positive… -
Testament (TESTAMENTO)
TESTAMENT. - It is the act by which a person disposes, for the time when he shall have ceased to live, of all his substance or of part of… -
Third Pensionable (TERZO PENSIONABILE)
THIRD PENSIONABLE. - It is an application of the institution of pensions, of special importance for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The… -
Titles of Dignity (TITOLI DI DIGNITÀ)
TITLES OF DIGNITY. - They are verbal marks capable of completing a person's identity, with a function that is therefore both identifying… -
Torture (TORTURA)
TORTURE. - In the narrowest and most precise sense, (judicial) torture is any judicial proceeding by which an attempt is made to extort… -
Treasury (TESORO)
TREASURY. - Understood here in the juridical sense, according to the definition of classical Roman law, treasure is "vetus quaedam… -
Tutelage-Tutor (TUTELA-TUTORE)
TUTELAGE-TUTOR. - Guardianship (tutela, patrocinium, praesentia) is, according to the jurist Servius (fr. 1, pr. D. 26, 1): « vis ac… -
Unions of States (UNIONI DI STATI)
UNIONS OF STATES. - Two or more States may voluntarily, and in a more or less stable manner, cooperate for general purposes of common… -
Usufruct (USUFRUTTO)
USUFRUCT. - It is the right to enjoy another's property and its fruits, with the burden of the expenses and the care of preserving and… -
Usurpation of Ecclesiastical Goods (USURPAZIONE DEI BENI ECCLESIASTICI)
USURPATION OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROPERTY. - It is the despoiling or misappropriation of ecclesiastical property by private individuals or even… -
Usury (USURA)
USURY. - The term has two acceptations, one absolute, the other relative to interest. In the first case usury is the profit received from a… -
Vacancy of the Ecclesiastical Office (VACANZA DELL'UFFICIO ECCLESIASTICO)
VACANCY OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL OFFICE. - It occurs when an ecclesiastical office lacks a holder. It can be de iure, when no legitimate… -
Veto
VETO. - The veto or exclusive (ius exclusionis, ius exclusivae) is one of the forms of interference by civil authority in the election of… -
Vicar (VICARIUS)
VICAR. - Title of an official of the Roman Empire. Initially an extraordinary representative of the praefectus praetorio, under Diocletian… -
Vicedominus (VICEDOMINO)
VICEDOMINUS. - For the patrimonial administrations of bishoprics and monasteries, Roman imperial legislation and the canons of the Eastern… -
Witness (TESTIMONE)
WITNESS. - A witness, or testis, is one who is called to attest to something. The facts of social life normally take place among people.…