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  • Proper Law of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura*
  • Benedict XVI

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Litterae Apostolicae motu proprio datae Antiqua ordinatione quibus Supremi Tribunalis Signaturae Apostolicae Lex propria promulgatur

Antiqua ordinatione tribunalium Signaturae papalis gratiae et iustitiae suppressa, ante centum annos Supremum Signaturae Apostolicae Tribunal restituit, vel melius instituit, Sanctus Decessor Noster Pius PP. X, Constitutione Apostolica scilicet Sapienti consilio die XXIX mensis Iunii anni MCMVIII edita, qua Curiae Romanae ordinatio apte recognoscebatur, cuique adnexa erat Lex propria Sacrae Romanae Rotae et Signaturae Apostolicae. Idem quoque Summus Pontifex Regulas servandas in iudiciis apud Supremum Apostolicae Signaturae Tribunal die VI mensis Martii anni MCMXII confirmare ratasque facere dignatus est; quin immo vim iisdem auctoritatemque Legis peculiaris pro Supremo Apostolicae Signaturae Tribunali attribuens, in Actis Apostolicae Sedis referri, promulgari et ab omnibus, ad quos spectaret, stricte in posterum observari iussit.

Competentiae Signaturae Apostolicae ita determinatae a Successore eius Summo Pontifice Benedicto PP. XV, ad instantiam Eminentissimi Michaëlis S.R.E. Cardinalis Lega, Supremi Tribunalis Praefecti, chirographo Attentis expositis diei XXVIII mensis Iunii anni MCMXV auctae et dein denuo expositae sunt in Codice Iuris Canonici, ab eodem Decessore Nostro paulo postea, id est die XXVII mensis Maii anni MCMXVII, promulgato.

Quae fere immutatae permanserunt usque ad Constitutionem Apostolicam Regi-mini Ecclesiae universae, qua Summus Pontifex Paulus PP. VI, venerandae memoriae, die XV mensis Augusti anni MCMLXVII novam Romanae Curiae ordinationem ad effectum alacriter adduxit, Sectionem Alteram ad summa eaque principalia fidelium iura aptius tuenda apud Tribunal Signaturae Apostolicae induxit eiusque munus rectae iustitiae administrationi invigilandi ad causas quoque matrimoniales extendit.

Huiusmodi magnae innovationes requirebant ut quam primum Normae Speciales redigerentur, quae ab eodem Summo Pontifice iam die XXIII mensis Martii anni MCMLXVIII ad experimentum approbatae sunt, deinceps Regulas servandas substituerunt et per quadraginta annos viguerunt in periodo profundae recognitionis legislationis canonicae. [End Page 620]

Apostolic Letter Antiqua ordinatione Given motu proprio by Which the Lex propria of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is Promulgated

After the old ordering of the tribunals of the Papal Signatura of Favors and Justice had been suppressed, one hundred years ago our Predecessor Pope St. Pius X restored, or rather instituted, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura by the Apostolic Constitution Sapienti consilio,1 issued on June 29, 1908, by which the ordering of the Roman Curia was aptly revised, and to which was attached the Proper Law (Lex propria) of the Sacred Roman Rota and the Apostolic Signatura.2 The same Supreme Pontiff also deigned to confirm and ratify the Rules to be Observed in Trials before the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura on March 6, 1912;3 indeed, attributing to it the force and authority of special law (lex peculiaris) for the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, he ordered it to be printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, promulgated, and strictly observed thereafter by all to whom it pertained.

The thus defined competencies of the Apostolic Signatura were augmented by his Successor, the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Benedict XV at the request of His Eminence, Michele Lega, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal, by the chirograph Attentis expositis of June 28, 1915,4 and then they were set forth anew in the Code of Canon Law promulgated by our same Predecessor a little later, that is, on May 27, 1917.

These remained for the most part unchanged until the Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae universae,5 by which the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Paul VI, of venerable memory, on August 15, 1967 readily brought to effect the new ordering of the Roman Curia, introduced the Second Section of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura for more adequately protecting the highest and principal rights of the faithful, and extended its responsibility of exercising vigilance over the correct administration of justice to matrimonial causes as well.

Such major changes required that the Normae speciales be prepared as soon as possible; these were approved on an experimental basis by the same Supreme Pontiff already on March 23, 1968.6 They thenceforth replaced the Rules to be Observed and were in force for forty years in a period of profound revision of canonical legislation. [End Page 621]

Promulgavit enim Servus Dei...

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