Can. 7 A law is established when it is
promulgated.
Can. 8 §1. Universal ecclesiastical laws are
promulgated by publication in the official commentary, Acta Apostolicae Sedis,
unless another manner of promulgation has been prescribed in particular cases. They
take force only after three months have elapsed from the date of that issue of
the Acta unless they bind immediately from the very nature of the matter, or
the law itself has specifically and expressly established a shorter or longer
suspensive period (vacatio).
§2. Particular laws are promulgated in the
manner determined by the legislator and begin to oblige a month after the day
of promulgation unless the law itself establishes another time period.
Can. 9 Laws regard the future, not the past,
unless they expressly provide for the past.
Can. 10 Only those laws must be considered
invalidating or disqualifying which expressly establish that an act is null or
that a person is effected.
Can. 11 Merely ecclesiastical laws bind those
who have been baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, possess the
efficient use of reason, and, unless the law expressly provides otherwise, have
completed seven years of age.
Can. 12 §1. Universal laws bind everywhere all those
for whom they were issued.
§2. All who are actually present in a certain
territory, however, are exempted from universal laws which are not in force in
that territory.
§3. Laws established for a particular territory
bind those for whom they were issued as well as those who have a domicile or
quasi-domicile there and who at the same time are actually residing there,
without prejudice to the prescript of ’áí can.
13.
Can. 13 §1. Particular laws are not presumed to
be personal but territorial unless it is otherwise evident.
§2. Travelers are not bound:
1/ by the particular laws of their own territory
as long as they are absent from it unless either the transgression of those
laws causes harm in their own territory or the laws are personal;
2/ by the laws of the territory in which they
are present, with the exception of those laws which provide for public order,
which determine the formalities of acts, or which regard immovable goods
located in the territory.
§3. Transients are bound by both universal and
particular laws which are in force in the place where they are present.
Can. 14 Laws, even invalidating and
disqualifying ones, do not oblige when there is a doubt about the law. When
there is a doubt about a fact, however, ordinaries can dispense from laws
provided that, if it concerns a reserved dispensation, the authority to whom it
is reserved usually grants it.
Can. 15 §1. Ignorance or error about
invalidating or disqualifying laws does not impede their effect unless it is expressly
established otherwise.
§2. Ignorance or error about a law, a penalty, a
fact concerning oneself, or a notorious fact concerning another is not
presumed; it is presumed about a fact concerning another which is not notorious
until the contrary is proven.
Can. 16 §1. The legislator authentically
interprets laws as does the one to whom the same legislator has entrusted the
power of authentically interpreting.
§2. An authentic interpretation put forth in the
form of law has the same force as the law itself and must be promulgated. If it
only declares the words of the law which are certain in themselves, it is
retroactive; if it restricts or extends the law, or if it explains a doubtful
law, it is not retroactive.
§3. An interpretation in the form of a judicial
sentence or of an administrative act in a particular matter, however, does not
have the force of law and only binds the persons for whom and affects the matters
for which it was given.
Can. 17 Ecclesiastical laws must be understood
in accord with the proper meaning of the words considered in their text and
context. If the meaning remains doubtful and obscure, recourse must be made to
parallel places, if there are such, to the purpose and circumstances of the
law, and to the mind of the legislator.
Can. 18 Laws which establish a penalty, restrict
the free exercise of rights, or contain an exception from the law are subject
to strict interpretation.
Can. 19 If a custom or an express prescript of
universal or particular law is lacking in a certain matter, a case, unless it
is penal, must be resolved in light of laws issued in similar matters, general
principles of law applied with canonical equity, the jurisprudence and practice
of the Roman Curia, and the common and constant opinion of learned persons.
Can. 20 A later law abrogates, or derogates
from, an earlier law if it states so expressly, is directly contrary to it, or
completely reorders the entire matter of the earlier law. A universal law,
however, in no way derogates from a particular or special law unless the law
expressly provides otherwise.
Can. 21 In a case of doubt, the revocation of a
pre-existing law is not presumed, but later laws must be related to the earlier
ones and, insofar as possible, must be harmonized with them.
Can. 22 Civil laws to which the law of the Church yields are to be observed in canon law with the same effects, insofar as they are not contrary to divine law and unless canon law provides otherwise.