Sacra Rota Romana
The
Sacra Rota Romana or
Sacred Roman Rota is the normal
appellate tribunal of the
Holy See and the second highest
ecclesiastical court in the
Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has a complete legal system which is the oldest and one of the most advanced legal systems still in use today. The court is named
Rota (
wheel) because the judges, called
auditors, originally met in a round room to hear cases.
The Rota adjudicates cases in a panel (called a
turnus) of three auditors assigned by the dean of the tribunal. The
Pope appoints the Rota's auditors, whose decisions are written in
Latin, and also designates the tribunal's dean. The current
dean of the Roman Rota is
Monsignor Antoni Stankiewicz, who has served in this capacity since
January 31,
2004.
The Rota's main function is that of a third instance
appellate tribunal, reviewing decisions of lower courts if the original court and the first appeal court do not agree on the outcome of a case. Dominating its case load are
marriage annulment cases due to the increased civil divorce rates among Catholics, but it hears non-administrative cases in any area of
canon law. In certain instances, the Rota has exclusive
original jurisdiction, such as any contentious case in which a bishop is a defendant. If the case can still be appealed after reaching the Rota, the appeal goes to a different
turnus of the Rota.
The Rota is the highest appeals court, but it is not the highest court. If the Rota acts illegally, its behavior can be tried before the
Apostolic Signatura, the highest court of the Roman Catholic Church outside of the
Pope himself. However, the acts of the Rota, not the merits of the case, are on trial before the Signatura: all the Signatura does is grant the petitioner a new trial in the Rota if the Rota was found to have erred in procedure.
The Rota, like any other court, has to interpret and apply the law, but unlike civil law courts in the
United States, it does not set precedent. That role in
Canon law is taken up by the
legislator of the appropriate law. In the case of universal laws (such as the
Code of Canon Law), the authentic interpreter is the Pope, who usually delegates this power to the
Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts of the
Roman Curia. The court is bound to apply the interpretations thus given.
The active auditors of the Rota, with their dates of appointment by the Roman Pontiff, are the following:
* Rev. Msgr. Antoni Stankiewicz (Dean) (14 Feb 1978)
* Rev. Msgr. Jose Maria Serrano Ruiz (25 Mar 1970)
* Rev. Msgr. Kenneth Boccafola (3 Apr 1986)
* Rev. Msgr. Josef Huber (5 Dec 1992)
* Rev. Msgr. Giovanni DeFilippi (20 Dec 1993)
* Rev. Msgr. Robert Sable (6 June 1993)
* Rev. Msgr. Egidio Turnaturi (9 June 1994)
* Rev. Msgr. Maurice Monier (9 Jan 1995)
* Rev. Msgr. Pio Pinto (25 Mar 1995)
* Rev. Msgr. Hanna Alwan (4 Mar 1996)
* Rev. Msgr. Giordano Caberletti (12 Nov 1996)
* Rev. Msgr. Angelo Bottone (4 Nov 1997)
* Rev. Msgr. Grzegorz Erlebach (4 Nov 1997)
* Rev. Msgr. Americo Ciani (8 Feb 1999)
* Rev. Msgr. Pena Ferreira (8 Feb 1999)
* Rev. Msgr. Giuseppe Sciacca (25 Mar 1999)
* Rev. Msgr. Giovanni Verginelli (28 Mar 2000)
* Rev. Msgr. Agostino De Angelis (23 Apr 2001)
* Rev. Msgr. Gerard McKay (8 June 2004)
* Rev. Msgr. Abdou Yaacoub (15 Nov 2004)
*
Tribunal of the Roman Rota*
Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts*
Giga-Catholic Information
