Commission for Lawyers in the Roman Curia
The Advocate Commission in the Roman Curia is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State . The commission selects lawyers and maintains the list of lawyers admitted to the Roman Curia .
lawyers
With the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus (PB) of June 28, 1988, Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) ordered that in addition to the lawyers of the Roman Rota and the church advocates for the canonization trials, lawyers before the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature should be admitted should be. (PB Art. 183) Nevertheless, they can also do their service in the dicasteries of the Roman Rota. (PB Art. 183) Simultaneously with the publication of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, John Paul II wrote the Apostolic Exhortation Iusti Iudicis in the form of a Motu Proprios . In it he summarized his orders and underlined that with this revision the adjustment of the administration of justice was bound to the requirement of human rights . In his letter he differentiates between “lawyers in the Roman Curia” who, in addition to a legal qualification, must also have a completed theological-academic degree, and “lawyers of the Holy See”, who only have to have a legal qualification.
Procedure
A permanent commission has been set up at the Cardinal Secretary of State; this commission maintains a list of lawyers in which the candidates are entered. All candidates must have an appropriate academic title. At the same time you should be able to prove a Christian life, moral decency and experience in legal proceedings. (PB Art. 184). If these requirements are no longer met later, they can be removed from the list. The lawyers are appointed for a term of five years after hearing the commission and lose their office at the age of 75. (PB Art. 185)