The integral reordering of law with application to religious law.

Abstract

Integral reordering is a relatively new term in ecclesiastical law. Borrowed from the Italian civil Code, integral reordering was introduced as a means of revocation of law in canon 22 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. However, with the stability of law ushered in with the initial codification, integral reordering was not used extensively until the time of the Second Vatican Council. In light of the plethora of juridic documents that marked the implementation of Vatican II and the number of such documents that continue to be issued even today, an understanding of this means of revocation is essential in order to determine clearly the ius vigens. This work begins by providing a comprehensive analysis of integral reordering as it has been understood by commentators on both the 1917 and 1983 Code of Canon Law. Canons 6 and 20 of the 1983 Code, which contain the phrases ex integro ordinatur and de integro ordinet , respectively, are the starting point of this investigation. Canon 6 establishes the parameters of the codified law, specifically delineating the relationship between the former law and the law contained in the Code; canon 20 treats the cessation of law. From the research eight principles are proposed that serve as indicators or guides to determine if a law has been integrally reordered. These tenets are authenticated by applying them to an authoritative model of express revocation that was based on the tacit means of revocation put forth in canon 20 and the presumption that favors stability of law cited in canon 21. The validity and utility of the principles are then demonstrated by their application to universal juridic documents that have shaped religious law since the time of the Second Vatican Council. By arriving at the ius vigens for religious, this model serves as a prototype for the application of the principles to other areas of law. Essentially this study answers the question: what is the status of law not included in the 1983 Code. Laws not directly contrary to the Code or those whose subject matter was not integrally reordered, remain part of the ius vigens unless, of course, they have been subsequently reordered by a later legislative text. The determination of precisely what is the ius vigens---and what is not---is a technical skill that necessitates proper tools for reaching right judgments. The application of the principles presented in this study provide such tools to determine the ius vigens, the law that binds the people of God.