Error in persona (Canon 1097 § 1 CIC/83) in Light of Doctrine and Jurisprudence

Abstract

Canon 1097 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, like Canon 1083 § 1 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law declares that error of person (error in persona, rendered as error circa personam in the previous Code) nullifies a marriage. Traditionally understood ‘person’ is about physical identity, but in the broader sense, adopted especially after the judgement of the Roman Rota c. Canals of 21 April 1970, the identity of a person consists of her qualities: ethical, moral, social, etc. The aim of the present study is to show error of person (as the reason for the nullity of a marriage) as construed by doctrine and jurisprudence; in particular, it concerns the notion of the person as the object of error. In the first part, the position of doctrine is discussed; the second part deals with the position of the judiciary. Both in doctrine and jurisprudence, the dominant view is that the person identifies herself in her physical dimension. Error in persona, a title of nullity of marriage, which is rare, should be used in accordance with the intention of the legislator, who made significant changes in the post-Conciliar Code of Canon Law, abolishing the legal figure of error redundans in errorem personae and introducing error qualitatis directe et principaliter intentae and deceptio dolosa.