Folia Canonica 8. (2005)
STUDIES - Wojciech Kowal: Norms for Preparing the Process for the Dissolution of the Matrimonial Bon din Favour of the Faith
116 WOJCIECH KOWALOMI 11. Preparation of the dossier Poor instruction of the case at the diocesan level and lack of necessary acts in the dossier are perhaps the greatest causes of delay after the case reaches the Congregation. Sometimes, a suspicion arises that the instruction at the diocesan level is done in a mechanical manner, including such particular occurrences as substantially the same acts sent for different cases with only the names substituted. The Congregation will then seek an assurance that every single case has been given individual attention. Needless to say, the acts sent to the Congregation must contain all the documents which belong to the process; “a statement that the documents are ‘on file in the chancery’ is not sufficient.”154 Article 13 of Potestas Ecclesiœ demands that documents, both original and their authenticated copies, must be acknowledged by the notary.155 The instructor should always insist upon original documents or their copies, certified by ecclesiastical or civil notaries as concordant with the originals (cf. c. 1544).156 There is, however, a change in the procedural requirements concerning authentication of documents. According to Ut noturn est, art. 3, documents, both the original and the authentic copies, must have been acknowledged by the ordinary himself or the delegated judge.157 Now the notary does so, also with regard to the copies of the acts sent to the Congregation (art. 13, §2).158 The Notes remind the instructors that certificates of baptism and/or profession of faith are to be included in the process with regard to the petitioner and/or the interested party. Baptismal certificates of any children, who are still minors, born to the first marriage should also be attached to the acts. One should not forget to include a copy of the pre-nuptial investigation (in the case of a Catholic marriage) and a copy of the civil divorce decree or sentence of civil nullity for the marriage presented for dissolution.159 Three copies of all the acts (typed), together with the bishop’s votum and the animadversions of the defender of the bond, accompanied by an index of the material and a summary are to be sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the 154 See Notes Regarding the Documentary and Procedural Aspects of Favour of the Faith Cases, no. 9. 155 See Potestas Ecclesiœ, 11. 156 See Notes Regarding the Documentary and Procedural Aspects of Favour of the Faith Cases, no. 9. 157See in LE, vol. 5, col. 6703 (English translation in Woestman, Special Marriage Cases, 132). l5SScc Potestas Ecclesiœ, I 1. 159 Sec Notes Regarding the Documentary and Procedural Aspects of Favour of the Faith Cases, no. 5.
