Church Tribunals in the Czech Republic during the COVID-19 Epidemic


Abstract

The article aims to summarize the situation in the church justice system in two aspects. From the distance of several years, it briefly evaluates the application of the norms of the 2015 reform of the matrimonial procedural law of the Catholic Church (the dramatic increase in the number of cases after the reform, the stabilization of the situation after the first years, the low use of the possibility of abbreviated proceedings, etc.). It assesses the impact of the imposed limitations (and people’s worries) in the Czech society during the COVID-19 epidemic on the activity of church tribunals and the search for alternative ways of processing cases (using the example of the Interdiocesan Tribunal in Olomouc).


Keywords

church tribunals; Czech Republic; nullity of marriage; Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus; religious freedom; restriction of rights; Catholic Church; COVID-19

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Published : 2023-06-25



Monika Menke 
Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic  Czechia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2814-2524
Damián Němec  damian.nemec@upol.cz
Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic  Czechia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9960-2452




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