Reorganisation of the courts of the Vatican City

On 16 March, Pope Francis announced a reorganisation of the courts of the Vatican City. In a guest post, Neil Addison explains further…

Understandably perhaps, in view of the other matters obsessing the news media at present, there has been little comment on the reorganisation of the courts of the Vatican State which came into effect on April 16 2020. The reorganisation took place through a motu proprio (ie law) promulgated by Pope Francis which is only available in Italian at present, but Google can provide an English translation

The Catholic Church runs two separate legal systems: Canon Law and the Law of the Vatican State. Canon Law deals with purely religious matters and applies to all Catholics throughout the world, whilst the Law of the Vatican State is a ‘normal’ system of secular law that only applies within the territory of the Vatican State and over Vatican citizens abroad, such as Papal Nuncios (Ambassadors). Continue reading