The reform of the canonical procedures to declare the nullity of the marriage. A study on the motu proprio "Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus"

Abstract

The two Apostolic Letters motu proprio given by Pope Francis and announced in September 2015, has introduced a deep reform to the legal process to declare the nullity of the marriage: the Letter Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus modifies cans.1671-1691 of the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church, while the m.p. Mitis et misericors Iesus reforms cans.1357-1377 of the Code of Canon Law for Oriental Churches (CCEO). In this article, the author presents and analyzes legal novelties introduced by Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, underscoring their object and pondering, from a critical perspective, the advantages and disadvantages of this reform. The article focus on those novelties that may cause problems of interpretation, like the structure of document and its normative value, the way chosen for its promulgation, and the interpretation of some new canons, such as the new regulation of the appeal and other recourses against the judgment, or the briefer process before the Bishop.