Folia Theologica et Canonica 7. 29/21 (2018)
Lectio magistralis
16 S.E.R. FRANS DANEELS, O.Praem. A non-exhaustive list of the several competences which belong to this third main field of competences is given in art. 35 LP, but Title V of the Lex propria (artt. 106— 121 )9, on the administrative procedure, restates in a slightly different way the points listed in art. 35: vigilance over the proper administration of justice, disciplinary sanctions, hierarchical recourses, commissions and other rescripts, declaration of nullity of marriage, and decrees required by some concordats in order to obtain civil effects for the decisions of ecclesiastical tribunals. b. Vigilance in strict sense Vigilance in the strict sense is exercised chiefly by the examination of the annual reports and the examination of denunciations and complaints. 1. Annual reports: The newly revised annual reports (art. 110, § 1 LP), to be sent every year in January, are submitted, sometimes after a reminder, by more than one thousand operational tribunals. They specifically include information on the composition of the tribunals and their activities in relation to matrimonial causes. Sometimes it is enough to simply thank the interested tribunals for the report received, but often timely advice or observations are presented. Reports are usually sent by Judicial Vicars, but the answers are addressed directly to the Bishop Moderator, who has the primary responsibility of overseeing his own tribunal. 2. Review of denunciations: Denunciations and complaints are addressed to the Apostolic Signatura by parties complaining about the manner in which a tribunal proceeds, because, for example, the right of defence or several procedural standards have been violated. In such cases, information is requested first from the tribunal. If a complaint of a party is founded, he or she will be informed of the possibility of vindicating his or her right to obtain a just decision using the remedies provided by procedural law. However, there may sometimes be a stronger response. In practice, these are mainly precepts given to the tribunals to observe in the future the correct jurisprudence, the transfer of a case to another tribunal, the suspension of the execution of a judicial decision. The necessary presupposition is that serious irregularities have been discovered. On the other hand, where there is no complaint from a party to the dispute, the constant concern of the Apostolic Signatura with regard to abuses against the proper administration of justice is not to disturb the good faith of the parties but to provide the Bishop Moderator of the Tribunal with timely observations and directions, so that the tribunal in question may in the future judge its causes properly. In effect, if something is not working in a tribunal, the Signatura will make every 9 See Daneels, F., La vigilanza sui Tribunali: introduzione al titolo V della Lex propria, in Iji Lex propria del S.T. della Segnatura Apostolira, Cittä del Vaticano 2010. 199-212. Daneki.s. F., Laprassi della vigilanza sui Tribunali in senso stretto, in La Lex propria del S.T. della Segnatura Apostolica, 239-250.
