The genesis of the Court of Appeal at the Municipal Vicariate and the evolution of its rules in the light of Pope Francis’s chirograph of 8 May 2018

Abstract

On 8 May 2018, Pope Francis, in his chirograph, resolved to liquidate the Tribunal of Appeal existing at the Vicariate of the City. The Apostolic Signature, in its implementing legislation, set the date of 1 September 2019 as the date from which the Roman Rota became the first forum of appeal for all tribunals whose judgments until then could be appealed against to the Court of Appeal at the City Vicariate. The article traces the origins and evolution of the Court of Appeal and the principles of its operation from the reform of Pius X, who, with his apostolic constitution Etsi nos of 1 January 1912, effected the first comprehensive reform of the structures of the City Vicariate, through the reforms of successive popes who reorganized the manner in which appeals were lodged against judgments of first instance rendered by the Vicariate Court. These activities include: Pius XI with his comprehensive reform of the judiciary in Italy (motu proprio Qua cura 1938), Pius XII, who set up a separate Court of Appeal at the Vicariate of the City by a rescript of the Secretariat of State on 16 October 1954, Paul VI, who abolished it in 1977 with the Apostolic Constitution Vicariae potestatis in Urbe and, finally, John Paul II, who intervened twice on the matter, in 1987 with the reinstatement of the Court of Appeal and in 1998 with the comprehensive reform of the City Vicariate. The fact of periodic contraction constitutes a near constant in the history of the Court of Appeal. It is therefore possible that the process of exploring the best possible solutions to guarantee the efficient administration of justice to the people of the Diocese of Rome, which is a manifestation of the pastoral concern of its Bishop, may lead to a reconsideration of the reinstatement of this judicial body.