The Formation and Evaluation of the Testimonial Evidence in the Canon Process of Marriage Annulment

Abstract

The right of the congregation to the process and to the subsequent fair trial based on the truth and, therefore, on charity and prudence, has been established for the first time in the ecclesiastic legislation in canon 221 §§ 1-2. The proceeding is aimed at looking for the truth, probatory stage of which constitutes its heart and core, because the evidence will allow the judge to obtain the moral certainty of the truth over the existence of a controversial event. Among the evidence means the judge uses to find the truth are the testimonies; from their formation and efficacy some orientations, also based on the jurisprudence of the Roman Rota, arise, and bearing in mind that the judge is free to appraise the evidence means, without contradicting, though, the principles of logics, the maxim of experience and the scientifically grounded knowledge.