PART II :
THE CONTENTIOUS TRIAL
SECTION I:
THE ORDINARY CONTENTIOUS TRIAL
TITLE I:
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE (Cann. 1501 - 1512)
CHAPTER I :
THE PETITION INTRODUCING THE SUIT
Can.
1501 A judge cannot investigate any case unless a plea, drawn up in accordance
with canon law, is submitted either by a person whose interest is involved, or
by the promotor of justice.
Can.
1502 A person who wishes to sue another must present a petition to a judge who
is lawfully competent. In this petition the matter in dispute is to be set out
and the intervention of the judge requested.
Can.
1503 §1 A judge can admit an oral plea whenever the plaintiff is impeded from
presenting a petition or when the case can be easily investigated and is of
minor significance.
§2 In both
cases, however, the judge is to direct a notary to record the matter in
writing. This written record is to be read to, and approved by, the plaintiff,
and it takes the place of a petition written by the plaintiff as far as all
effects of law are concerned.
Can.
1504 The petition by which a suit is introduced must:
1° state
the judge before whom the case is being introduced, what is being sought and
from whom it is being sought;
2° indicate
on what right the plaintiff bases the case and, at least in general terms, the
facts and evidence to be submitted in support of the allegations made;
3° be
signed by the plaintiff or the plaintiff's procurator, and bear the day, the
month and the year, as well as the address at which the plaintiff or the
procurator resides, or at which they say they reside for the purpose of
receiving the acts;
4° indicate
the domicile or quasi-domicile of the respondent.
Can.
1505 §1 Once he has satisfied himself that the matter is within his competence
and the plaintiff has the right to stand before the court, the sole judge, or
the presiding judge of a collegiate tribunal, must as soon as possible by his
decree either admit or reject the petition.
§2 A
petition can be rejected only if:
1° the
judge or the tribunal is not legally competent;
2° it is
established beyond doubt that the plaintiff lacks the right to stand before the
court;
3° the
provisions of can. 1504 nn. 1 - 3 have not been observed
4° it is
certainly clear from the petition that the plea lacks any foundation, and that
there is no possibility that a foundation will emerge from a process.
§3 If a
petition has been rejected by reason of defects which can be corrected, the plaintiff
can draw up a new petition correctly and present it again to the same judge.
§4 A party
is always entitled, within ten canonical days, to have recourse, based upon
stated reasons, against the rejection of a petition. This recourse is to be
made either to the tribunal of appeal or, if the petition was rejected by the
presiding judge, to the collegiate tribunal. A question of rejection is to be
determined with maximum expedition.
Can.
1506 If within a month of the presentation of a petition, the judge has not
issued a decree admitting or rejecting it in accordance with can. 1505, the
interested party can insist that the judge perform his duty. If,
notwithstanding this, the judge does not respond within ten days of the party's
request, the petition is to be taken as having been admitted.
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