The administrative criminal procedure in 21st ST century canon law

Abstract

The administrative criminal procedure —that is, the application of penalties by an extrajudicial decree— is a very old institution in Canon Law, but the 1983 Code placed it after the judicial criminal process, more guarantor but also more complex. However, in the last decades, it has experienced a new boom through the approval of multiple extra-Code norms that have increased the complexity of this procedure that is characterized, basically, by the notes of simplicity and speed. Its renewed relevance and especially its usefulness in solving some of the most pressing problems facing the Church today, call for an overall analysis of the administrative criminal procedure, emphasizing its future potential and the role which is called to play in the canonical juridical system of the 21st century.