Page:Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent Buckley.djvu/276

Rh CHAPTER X.

Insomuch as on account of the malicious suggestion of suitors, and sometimes also by reason of the instance of places, a knowledge of the persons to whom causes are committed, cannot be adequately obtained; and hence causes are sometimes referred to judges on the spot who are not thoroughly competent; the holy synod ordains, that, in each provincial or diocesan council, there shall be designated certain persons who shall possess the qualifications required by the constitution of Boniface VIII., which begins, Statutum, and who are otherwise suited thereunto; that, to them also, besides the ordinaries of the places, may henceforth be committed those ecclesiastical and spiritual causes, belonging to the ecclesiastical court, which may be to be delegated to their districts. And if it shall happen that one of these so designated die in the interim, the ordinary of the place, with the advice of the chapter, shall substitute another in his stead, until the next provincial or diocesan synod; in such wise that each diocese shall have at least four, or even more, persons approved and qualified as above, to whom causes of this kind may be committed by any legate, or nuncio, and even by the Apostolic See. Otherwise, after the said designation has been made, which the bishops shall straightway transmit to the Sovereign Roman Pontiff, any delegations soever of other judges, made to any others but the above, shall be accounted surreptitious. The holy synod furthermore admonishes as well the ordinaries as well other judges soever, to strive to terminate causes with as much brevity as possible; and to meet in every way, either by prescribing a given term, or by some other adequate means, the artifices of lawyers, whether in delaying the trial of the suit, or any other part of the judicial process.