Opening ceremony of the Inter-diocesan Ecclesiastical Court of Baucau and Maliana
The Minister of Justice, Tiago Amaral Sarmento, participated on January 5th, 2023, in the opening ceremony of the Baucau-Maliana Inter-diocesan Ecclesiastical Court of Baucau-Maliana, located in the Ecclesiastical Chamber of the Diocese of Maliana.
An ecclesiastical court is a tribunal of the Catholic Church for resolving disputes or cases relating to canon law. The ecclesiastical court follows its own process and is generally used as an alternative to the civil court system or when matters involve canon law, judging cases such as marriages, marriage annulments and other issues related to religious life.
During his speech at the ceremony, Minister Tiago Sarmento, on behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Justice, thanked the Catholic Church for installing this Inter-diocesan Ecclesiastical Court.
The Minister referred that the opening of this ecclesiastical court supports the objective defined in the current judicial organisation law, which indicates that first-instance courts should be installed in all the country's municipalities.
The Minister of Justice handed over the Certificate of Legal Persons during the ceremony. In addition, the heads of this Ecclesiastical Court were sworn in: Father José Filipe as Judicial Vicar, Father Marçal Dias Ximenes as Defender of the Bond, Father Dionisio Felismino Guterres Soares as Promoter of Justice, and Father Levinson da Conceição Verdial as Chancellor and notary of the Court.
The representative of the Holy See in Timor-Leste, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi and the Bishop of the Diocese of Maliana, Dom Norberto do Amaral, also participated in the opening of the Inter-diocesan Ecclesiastical Court of Baucau and Maliana.
