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Sui iuris (/ˈsuːaɪˈdʒʊərɪs/), also spelledsui juris, is aLatin phrase that literally means "of one's own right".[1] It is used in both theCatholic Church'scanon law[2] and secular law.[3] The termchurchsui iuris is used in the CatholicCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO) to denote theautonomous churches in Catholiccommunion. The Catholic Church consists of 24 churches, including theLatin Church and 23Eastern Catholic churches.
The Latinsui iuris (the individual words meaning 'self' and 'law') corresponds to the Greek 'αὐτόνομος', from which the English wordautonomy is derived.[4]
The spelling inClassical Latin issui iuris, and inMedieval Latinsui juris. English Law gets the term from Medieval Latin, and so spells itsui juris.
Church documents such as theCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches apply the Latin termsui iuris to theparticular Churches that are together the Catholic Church, theRoman Catholic Church and those in communion with it.
A churchsui iuris is "a community of the Christian faithful, which is joined together by a hierarchy according to the norm of law and which is expressly or tacitly recognized as sui iuris by the supreme authority of the Church" (CCEO.27). The termsui iuris is an innovation of the CCEO, and it denotes the relative autonomy of theoriental Catholic Churches. This canonical term, pregnant with many juridical nuances, indicates the God-given mission of the Oriental Catholic Churches to keep up their patrimonial autonomous nature. And the autonomy of these churches is relative in the sense that it is under the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff.[a]
By far the largest of thesui iuris churches is theLatin Church.[7] Over that particular church, thePope exercises his papal authority, and the authority that in other particular churches belongs to aPatriarch. He has, therefore, been referred to also as Patriarch of the West.[8] The other particular Churches are calledEastern Catholic Churches, each of which, if large enough, has its own patriarch or other chief hierarch, with authority over all the bishops of that particular Church or rite.
The same term is applied also to missions that lack enough clergy to be set up as apostolic prefectures but are for various reasons given autonomy and so are not part of any diocese, apostolic vicariate or apostolic prefecture. In 2004, there were eleven such missions: three in the Atlantic,Cayman Islands,Turks and Caicos, andSaint Helena,Ascension andTristan da Cunha; two in the Pacific, Funafuti (Tuvalu), andTokelau; and six in central Asia,Afghanistan, Baku (Azerbaijan),Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, andUzbekistan.
According to CCEO, the Oriental Catholic churchessui iuris are of four categories.
A patriarchal church is a full-grown form of an Eastern Catholic church. It is 'a community of the Christian faithful joined together by' a Patriarchal hierarchy. The Patriarch together with the synod of bishops has the legislative, judicial and administrative powers within jurisdictional territory of the patriarchal church, without prejudice to those powers reserved, in the common law, to the Roman pontiff (CCEO 55-150). Among the Eastern Catholic Churches the following churches are of patriarchal status:
Major archiepiscopal churches are the oriental churches, governed by themajor archbishops being assisted by the respective synod of bishops. These churches also have almost the same rights and obligations of Patriarchal Churches. A major archbishop is themetropolitan of a see determined or recognized by the Supreme authority of the Church, who presides over an entire Eastern Churchsui iuris that is not distinguished with the patriarchal title. What is stated in common law concerning patriarchal Churches or patriarchs is understood to be applicable to major archiepiscopal churches or major archbishops, unless the common law expressly provides otherwise or it is evident from the nature of the matter" (CCEO.151, 152). Following are the Major Archiepiscopal Churches:
Asui iuris church which is governed by aMetropolitan (Bishop) is called a metropolitan churchsui iuris. "A Metropolitan Churchsui iuris is presided over by the Metropolitan of a determined see who has been appointed by the Roman Pontiff and is assisted by a council of hierarchs according to the norm of law" (CCEO. 155§1). The Catholic metropolitan churches are the following:
Other than the above-mentioned three forms ofsui iuris churches there are some othersui iuris ecclesiastical communities. It is "a Churchsui iuris which is neither patriarchal nor major archiepiscopal nor Metropolitan, and is entrusted to a hierarch who presides over it in accordance with the norm of common law and the particular law established by the Roman Pontiff" (CCEO. 174). The following churches are of this juridical status:
The Catholic Church in Georgia used to be able to do the Byzantine Rite. However, after grueling Soviet oppression, their church was effectively forced underground and Georgian Greek Catholics are now a minority.
In civil law, the phrasesui juris indicates legal competence, and refers to an adult who has the capacity to manage his or her own affairs. It is opposed toalieni juris, meaning one such as aminor or mentally disabled person who islegally incompetent and under the control of another. It also indicates a person capable ofsuing and/or being sued in a legal proceeding in his own name (suo nomine[11]) without the need of anad litem, that is, a court appointed representative, acting on behalf of a defendant, who is deemed to be incapable of representing himself.
sui juris [ˈsuːaɪ ˈdʒʊərɪs] adj (Law) (usually postpositive) Law of full age and not under disability; legally competent to manage one's own affairs; independent [from Latin, literally: of one's own right]
