The reparation of harm: A canonical analysis of canon 128 with reference to its common law parallels.

• Main Author: Sharbel Poll, Margaret.
• Other Authors: Huels, John M.
• Format: Others
• Published: University of Ottawa (Canada) 2009
• Subjects: Law.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/6094; http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-11090

In 1983, a maxim of the natural law was concretized into a canonical obligation requiring one remedy the harm that one inflicts. In addition to canon 128's providing legal encouragement for one voluntarily to remedy the harm that one inflicts, if the person does not act voluntarily, c.128 provides a legal foundation for persons who have been harmed to exercise their right to vindicate and defend their rights in an ecclesiastical forum. It also provides a foundation from which the Church can act to enforce this principle and compel a person to remedy the harm that he or she inflicts. The primary purpose of this work is to explain the meaning of c. 128 and the nature, procedures, and methods of the remedy of harm in canon law. In addition, this work compares canonical concepts with similar concepts found in common law, and distinguishes those concepts that may be foreign to the common law tradition. This work seeks to show that c. 128 has been under-used as a basis for petitioning a canonical forum to remedy unlawfully inflicted harm. It demonstrates that c. 128 can be used as a foundational canon having its own broad applications rather that simply being a philosophical and canonical support for other juridic principles. Furthermore, this work endeavors to contribute to the canonical discussion on how justice is viewed and administered in the Church. Finally, it is hoped that this work will supply a common law perspective to the remedy of harm in canon law, and provide concrete examples from the common law that can aid judges and administrators in assigning fair and equitable remedies to persons that have been harmed.