ABSTRACT

Starting from the influence of the double degree of judgment on the ecclesiastical judicial arrangement, the article seeks to reconstruct the origin and nature of the judicial power of local courts of second instance in the Latin Church. The conceptual and constitutional arrangement of ecclesiastical judicial organization is not without practical and deontological implications. Canonist doctrine has not delved into the assumptions of existing legislation; the predominantly disciplinary and exegetical framing limits the fundamental and law-as-order approach. The relationship between power of primacy and particular episcopal power must be approached in light of the instrumental nature of the procedural good, the harmony between divine and human law, and procedural normative centralization. The traditional approach provided a logical and deontological justification for the hierarchical type of power-based source; the growing awareness of episcopal capacity, however, provides a better understanding of the logic and distribution of second instance courts. Recourse to the legal and rational cause seems likely to avoid giving improper ecclesiological value to a functional principle. Improved theoretical reconstruction aims to increase integration between central and particular government and increase episcopal concern and co-responsibility. The recent procedural reform of MIDI, while engendering some structural difficulties and criticalities, has also contributed to making explicit the direct episcopal responsibility in the administration of justice. The accessibility, proximity, and affordability of local courts of second instance cannot overcome the system’s inherent tendency to guarantee its aims, and is directly linked to the effectiveness and incidence of the appeal.