 |
|
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
(LatinNotorietas, notorium, fromnotus, known).
Notoriety is the quality or the state of things that are notorious; whatever is so fully or officiallyproved, that it may and ought to be held as certain without further investigation, is notorious. It is difficult to express exactly what is meant by notoriety, and, as the Gloss says (in can. Manifesta, 15, C. ii, q. 1), "we are constantly using the wordnotorious and areignorant of its meaning". Ordinarily it is equivalent to public, manifest, evident, known; all these terms have something in common, they signify that a thing, far from being secret, may be easily known by many. Notoriety, in addition to this commonidea, involves theidea of indisputableproof, so that what is notorious is held asproved and serves as a basis for the conclusions and acts of those in authority, especially judges. To be as precise as is possible, "public" means what any one may easily prove or ascertain, what is done openly; what manypersonsknow and hold as certain, is "manifest"; what a greater or less number ofpersons have learnt, no matter how, is "known"; what is to be held as certain and may no longer be called in question is "notorious".
Authorities distinguish between notoriety of fact, notoriety of law, and presumptive notoriety, though the last is often considered a subdivision of the second. Whatever is easily shown and is known by a sufficient number ofpersons to be free from reasonabledoubt is notorious in fact. This kind of notoriety may refer either to a transitory fact, e.g., Caius was assassinated; or permanent facts, e.g., Titius isparishpriest of thisparish; or recurring facts, e.g. Sempronius engages inusurious transactions. Whatever has been judicially ascertained, viz., judicial admissions, an affair fullyproved, and the judgment rendered in a lawsuit, is notorious in law; the judge accepts the fact as certain without investigation; nor will he allow, except in certain well-specified cases, the matter to be called in question. "Notorious" is then used as more or less synonymous with "official". Such also are facts recorded in official documents, as civil orecclesiastical registries of births, deaths, ormarriages, notarial records. Lastly, whatever arises from a rule of law based on a "violent" presumption, for instance, paternity and filiation in case of a legitimate marriage, is presumptively notorious.
When a fact is admitted as notorious by the judge, and in general by a competent authority, noproof of it is required, but it is oftennecessary to show that it is notorious, as the judge is not expected toknow every notorious fact. The notoriety has to beproved, like any other fact alleged in a trial, by witnesses or "instruments", that is, written documents. The witnesses swear that the fact in question is publicly known and admitted beyond dispute in their locality or circle. The documents consist especially in extracts from the official registries, in the copies of authentic judicial papers, for instance, a judgment, or of notarial papers, known as "notarial acts", drawn up by public notaries on the conscientious declarations of well-informed witnesses.
Canonists have variously classified the legal effects of notoriety, especially in matters of procedure; but, ultimately, they may all be reduced to one: the judge, and in general theperson in authority, holding what is notorious to be certain andproved, requires no further information, and therefore, both may and ought to refrain from any judicial inquiry,proof, or formalities, which would otherwise benecessary. For these inquiries and formalities having as their object to enlighten the judge, are useless when the fact is notorious. Such is thetrue meaning of the axiom that in notorious matters the judge need not follow the judicial procedure (cf. can. 14 and 16, C. ii, q. 1; cap.7 and 10, "De cohab. cleric", lib. III, tit. ii; cap.3, "De testib. cogend.", lib. II, tit. xxi). None of the essential solemnities of the procedure should ever be omitted. The most interesting application of the effect of notoriety in criminal matters is in connexion with the pagrans delictus, when the accused is caught in the criminal act, in which case the judge is dispensed from the necessity of any inquiry.
FAGNAN, Comment. in cap. Vestra, 7, lib. III Decret., tit. ii; FERRARIS, Prompta biblioth., s.v. Notorium; SMITH, The elements of Ecclesiastical Law (NEW YORK, 1877-1889); TAUNTON, The Law of the Church (LONDON, 1906), 452.
APA citation.Boudinhon, A.(1911).Notoriety, Notorious. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11126b.htm
MLA citation.Boudinhon, Auguste."Notoriety, Notorious."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 11.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1911.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11126b.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph E. O'Connor.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmasterat newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.