The Execution of a Sentence Given by the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura: A Critical Aspect of the Current Canonical System of Administrative Justice?

Abstract

This article deals with a fundamental theme for the very functionality of the canonical contentious-administrative system: namely, that of the possibility to watch over the right execution of the sentences given by the Supreme Apostolic Forum. Indeed, without the possibility of an objective judgment concerning the conformity of the decisions made there is the risk of rendering useless the entire canonical contentious-administrative institution, which was introduced into the life of the Church to guarantee for the faithful who are administered a real legal protection of their rights in the event that they should be infringed upon by a singular administrative act placed by the public administration. After presenting the concrete case of Chicago it is developed with a reflection on the argument, analyzing the new dispositions given by the recent Lex propria of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura at articles 92-94 ; from there, one can see how a possible solution is finally offered by the same norms.