@John A Cassani@Liam Ronan What he says is true, but in a state where judges know the laws. The Vatican judges called by Francis have never obtained a degree in Canon Law or Vatican Law. How is it possible to exercise a key role such as that of President of the Court without having any knowledge of what is "the first normative source and the first interpretative reference criterion" of the Vatican …More
@John A Cassani@Liam Ronan What he says is true, but in a state where judges know the laws. The Vatican judges called by Francis have never obtained a degree in Canon Law or Vatican Law. How is it possible to exercise a key role such as that of President of the Court without having any knowledge of what is "the first normative source and the first interpretative reference criterion" of the Vatican legal system? How can the Promoter of Justice of a State carry out criminal proceedings if he doesn't even know the rules? If a French lawyer wanted to practice in Italy he could not do so unless he had demonstrated - by taking exams and tests - that he knew the Italian legal system. If a Brazilian lawyer wanted to be a magistrate in Italy he would not be able to do so unless he had taken the judicial competition. This is fundamental to protect the State from any accusation of corruption, appointments made in a non-transparent way, etc... but also for the defendants who have the guarantee that whoever judges them or whoever acts against them has knowledge of the matter they are dealing with .
Once again, therefore, the guarantee of due process comes to light.
If the prerequisites are complete ignorance of the legal system on the part of those who exercise these functions, we can calmly affirm that the process cannot be fair.
@John A Cassani Judges can be impeached, recalled, or otherwise removed from the bench if they are way off the mark in the eyes of the public. Where I come from judges are elected by the public or appointed by a government official. Putting an undesirable on the bench has a lot of blame to spread around.
Yes, in many places they can lose their office for doing a lousy job, and can be impeached and removed for doing something improper, but they can’t be sued or charged with a crime in civil or criminal court, as long as they are exercising judicial authority, whether right or wrong.
@John A Cassani I understand that. However, the appointing authority might have liability under certain circumstances. I always wondered if 'promises' made during a campaign were effectively contracts with the public and failure to adhere to an electoral contract could give rise to a claim of liability. Judges campaign for election.
Judicial immunity is not a perfect principle, but it is better than most alternatives, if promoting justice is seen as desirable. This policy will lead to Vatican magistrates making decisions in the interests of the Vatican State, and thus, to keep their jobs. In the US, for instance, judicial immunity is absolute, with judges only able to be sued or charged if they were acting wildly beyond their …More
Judicial immunity is not a perfect principle, but it is better than most alternatives, if promoting justice is seen as desirable. This policy will lead to Vatican magistrates making decisions in the interests of the Vatican State, and thus, to keep their jobs. In the US, for instance, judicial immunity is absolute, with judges only able to be sued or charged if they were acting wildly beyond their authority, as recently happened with a divorce judge who supervised a police search of a man’s home, which is outside of the authority of judges.
