Fuero competente (DCH) (Competent forum (DCH))

No. 2020-27

The article analyses the criteria used to determine the tribunal that should be in charge of judging a given dispute, i.e. to determine the competent forum. Firstly, it deals with the distribution of legal cases between civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the solutions contemplated for mixed cases. In addition, being a study centered on canon law, it studies the Church's power of jurisdiction in matters of conscience, the legal nature of internal forum, and its uses in Hispanic America. Next, the article considers the criteria used by the Church to determine the competent forum: domicile, contract, crime, and location of the thing. The article also examines the application of these criteria in Spanish America local contexts pointing out how Castilian law and canon law would have shaped the criteria for determining of the competent forum overseas. Finally, the article analyses the privileged jurisdictions as well as the extraordinary means of acquiring jurisdiction.

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