Roman Rota

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The Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae (Latin, "Apostolic Tribunal of the Sacred Roman Rota") — also called the Sacred Roman Rota, and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience — is the highest appellate tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-rite members^[1] and the eastern-rite members^[2] and is, with respect to judicial trials conducted in the Catholic Church, the highest ecclesiastical court constituted by the Holy See.^[3] The Catholic Church has a complete legal system, which is the oldest still in use today. The court is named Rota (wheel) because the judges, called auditors, originally met in a round room to hear cases.^[4] The Rota was established in the 13th century.

Constitution

The Pope appoints the auditors of the Rota and designates one of them the dean,^[5] who since January 21, 2004 is Most Rev. Antoni Stankiewicz. The Rota issues its decrees and sentences in Latin.^[6] The Rota adjudicates cases in a panel (called a Turnus) of three auditors, or more, depending on the complexity of the matter, assigned by the Dean of the Tribunal, though sometimes a larger number of auditors are assigned to a particular case.^[7] The auditors of the Rota have been deemed^{[by whom?]} the cream of the crop of ecclesiastical judges serving various Dioceses around the world.^{[citation needed]}

Name

Until the 14th century, the court was formally known as the 'Apostolic Court of Audience'. The first recorded use of the term Rota, which referred to the wheel-shaped arrangement of the benches used by the court in the great hall at Avignon, is in Thomas Fastolf's Decisiones rotae, consisting of reports on thirty-six cases heard at the Court of Audience in Avignon between December 1336 and February 1337.^[8]

Operations

The Rota's main function is that of an appellate tribunal, ordinarily reviewing decisions of lower courts if the initial court (first instance) and the first appellate court (second instance) do not agree on the outcome of a case;^[9] however, any party to an initial decision before a court of the Latin Church (and also some Eastern Churches) has the right to file a second-instance appeal directly to the Rota.^[10] Dominating its case load are petitions seeking the issuance of a decree of nullity, although it has jurisdiction to hear any other type of judicial and non-administrative case in any area of canon law. In certain instances, the Rota has exclusive original jurisdiction, such as any contentious case in which a bishop of the Latin Church is a defendant.^[11] If the case can still be appealed after a Rotal decision, the appeal goes to a different turnus, or panel, of the Rota.^{[citation needed]}

The Rota is the highest appeals court, or Supreme court, for all judicial trials in the Catholic Church. A judgment of the Rota can, however with the greatest difficulty, be vacated by the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, which is the highest Administrative Court in the Roman Catholic Church.^[12] However, the legal procedure or process used by the judges of the Rota, not the merits of the case, are on trial before the Signatura: the Signatura is only able to grant the petitioner a new trial to be held before a new turnus of the Rota, if the Rota was found to have erred in procedure ("de procedendo").^{[citation needed]}

The Roman Rota proceedings are ruled by a specific set of rules, the "Normae Romanae Rotae Tribunalis", promulgated in 1994 by Pope John Paul II. ^[13]

Only advocates who are registered in a specific list are allowed to represent the parties before the Tribunal. ^[14]

Judges

Styles

In recognition of the venerable Tribunal's almost 800 years of history and signal reputation, the Prelate Auditors, by exception to numerous norms promulgated by both Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, are to be addressed as "Most Illustrious and Most Reverend" ("Illustrissimus ac Reverendissimus").^{[citation needed]} The Dean of the Rota, even if not already consecrated a Bishop, is to be addressed as "His Excellency," ("Excellentia Tua").^{[citation needed]} All Prelate Auditor Judges of the Rota are styled, "Most Reverend Monsignor."^{[citation needed]}

Auditors

The active auditors of the Rota, with their dates of appointment by the Pope, are:

Most Rev. Antoni Stankiewicz (Dean) (14 February 1978) Rev. Msgr. Kenneth Boccafola (3 April 1986) Rev. Msgr. Giovanni Battista DeFilippi (20 December 1993) Rev. Msgr. Robert M. Sable (6 June 1993) Rev. Msgr. Maurice Monier (9 January 1995) Rev. Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto (25 March 1995) Rev. Msgr. Giordano Caberletti (12 November 1996) Rev. Msgr. Angelo Bruno Bottone (4 November 1997) Rev. Msgr. Grzegorz Erlebach (4 November 1997) Rev. Msgr. Jair Ferreira Pena (8 February 1999)

Rev. Msgr. Agostino De Angelis (23 April 2001) Rev. Msgr. Gerard McKay (8 June 2004) Rev. Msgr. Abdou Yaacoub (15 November 2004) Rev. Msgr. Michael Xavier Leo Arokiaraj (25 April 2007) Rev. Msgr. Alejandro Arellano Cedillo (25 April 2007) Rev. Msgr. Giovanni Vaccarotto (11 August 2010) Rev. David Maria A. Jaeger, O.F.M. (3 June 2011[15]) Rev. Msgr. Vito Angelo Todisco (4 October 2011) Rev. Msgr. Felipe Heredia Esteban (4 October 2011)

Officers

Rev. Msgr. Alessandro Perego (Promoter of Justice) Rev. Msgr. Antonios Chouweifaty (Adjunct Promoter of Justice) Rev. Mgsr. Enrico Adriano Rosa, (Defender of the Bond) Rev. Msgr. Robert Golebiowski, (Substitute Defender of the Bond) Rev. Msgr. Antonio Bartolacci, (Moderator of the Chancery) Rev. Msgr. Francesco Viscome, ("First" Notary) Rev. Msgr. Alessandro Recchia, ("Second" Notary)

References

1. ^ Codex Iuris Canonici [CIC] canons 1443, 1444.
2. ^ Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium [CCEO] canon 1065.
3. ^ See John Paul II, ap. con. Pastor Bonus art. 121, 80 Acta Apostolicae Sedis 841 (1988) (noting that the Apostolic Signatura is the supreme tribunal).
4. ^ Edward Peters, Canon Law—Canonistics—Rota Background, http://www.canonlaw.info/personal_rotademo.htm (updated 21 October 2006).
5. ^ Pastor Bonus art. 127.
6. ^ Pastor Bonus art. 16 (Latin is the official language of the Roman Curia).
7. ^ Canon L. Socy. Gr. Brit. & Ir., The Canon Law Letter and Spirit: A Practical Guide to the Code of Canon Law ¶ 2907, at 837 (Gerard Sheehy et al. eds., Liturgical Press 1995).
8. ^ John Hamilton Baker, Monuments of endlesse labours: English canonists and their work (1998), p. 22
9. ^ Pastor Bonus art. 128 § 2.
10. ^ Pastor bonus art. 128 § 1.
11. ^ See Pastor Bonus art. 129 § 1.
12. ^ See Pastor bonus art. 122 (noting that the Apostolic Signatura, from Rotal sentences, hears plaints of nullity, petitions for total reinstatement, and petitions for new examination of status-of-persons cases and also hears misconduct proceedings against Rotal auditors).
13. ^ (Acta Apostolicae Sedis June 6, 1994)
14. ^ art 47, Normae Rotalis
15. ^ Zarchin, Tomer (3 June 2011). "Israeli Jew turned Catholic priest named head of papal court". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-jew-turned-catholic-priest-named-head-of-papal-court-1.365615. Retrieved 5 June 2011.  Note that the headline errs in stating that Jaeger was appointed "head" of the court; the body of the article does not make this mistake.

External links

• Tribunal of the Roman Rota
• Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
• Giga-Catholic Information
•  "Sacra Romana Rota". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.