View source for Motu proprio

{{Short description|Type of document issued by the Pope}}
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{{canon Law}}
In law, '''{{lang|la|motu proprio}}''' ([[Latin]] for 'on his own impulse') describes an official act taken without a formal request from another [[Party (law)|party]]. Some jurisdictions use the term {{lang|la|[[sua sponte]]}} for the same concept.

In [[Catholic canon law]], it refers to a document issued by the [[pope]] on his own initiative and personally signed by him.<ref name=ODCC>Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), s.v. motu proprio</ref> Such a document may be addressed to the whole church, to part of it, or to some individuals.<ref name=ODCC/> The first papal {{lang|la|motu proprio}} was [[Promulgation (Catholic canon law)|promulgated]] by [[Pope Innocent VIII]] in 1484.<ref name="EnCath">{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10602a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Motu Proprio|website=newadvent.org}}</ref> It continues to be a common form of [[papal rescript]], especially when establishing institutions, making minor changes to law or procedure, and when granting favours to persons or institutions.

== Catholic Church ==

=== Effect ===
An important effect of issuing a document in this way is that a rescript containing the clause {{lang|la|motu proprio}} is valid and produces its effect even in cases where fraud would ordinarily have vitiated the document, since the pope does not rely on the reasons alleged when he grants a favour.<ref name=EnCath/> Withholding of the truth in what, according to canonical law, style and practice, must for validity be expressed, normally renders a rescript invalid, but not if the rescript is issued ''motu proprio''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P7.HTM#4B|title=Code of Canon Law: text – IntraText CT|website=intratext.com}}</ref> Consequently, canonists traditionally called the clause the "mother of repose".<ref name=EnCath/> The designation {{lang|la|motu proprio}} indicates that the validity of the document is independent of the validity of whatever reasons may have been adduced in a request for its issuance.<ref name="EnCath"/>

However, a {{lang|la|motu proprio}} has no effect in so far as it harms the acquired right of another or is contrary to a law<ref>According to the article in the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia, a {{lang|la|motu proprio}} was at that time considered valid even if counter to ecclesiastical law.</ref> or approved custom, unless it expressly states that it is derogating from these matters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P5.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law: text – IntraText CT|website=intratext.com}}</ref>

=== Form ===
A {{lang|la|motu proprio}} rescript begins by giving the reasons for issuing it, and then indicates the law or regulation made or the favour granted. It is less formal than a constitution and carries no papal seal. Its content may be instructional (e.g., on the use of [[Gregorian chant|chant]]), administrative (e.g., concerning a church law or the establishment of a commission), or merely to confer a special favour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Motu proprio |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/motu-proprio |access-date=2023-09-09 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

==Civil law==
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2021}}
More generically, this phrase (or {{lang|la|proprio motu}}; Latin allows [[free word order]]) is used to indicate an act taken by a court without a [[Motion (legal)|motion]] from a party to the case. The term is used very rarely in legal opinions in the United States, where {{lang|la|[[sua sponte]]}} is preferred, but {{lang|la|proprio motu}} is used in Canada.<ref>{{cite web |title=R v. Erven |publisher=[[Supreme Court of Canada]] |author=Dickson J. |date=28 March 2025 |author-link=Brian Dickson |id=[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2621/index.do [1979&#93; 1 S.C.R. 926] |page=8 |url=http://www.trafficticketparalegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/R-v-Erven.pdf#page=8 |quote=where the Crown attempts to tender a statement without first requesting a trial within the trial, the Court must order it proprio motu.}}</ref> {{lang|la|Proprio motu}} is used to refer to a decision by the prosecutor of the [[International Criminal Court]] to initiate an investigation into a situation without a referral from the [[Security Council]] or a state party; this power is granted by article 15(1) of the [[Rome Statute]]. [[European Court of Justice]] judgments use the phrase "of its own motion" and its equivalent in other community [[languages of the European Union|languages]].<ref>European Court of Justice, [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:62005CJ0222 Joined Cases C-222/05 to C-225/05], delivered 7 June 2007, accessed 30 June 2023</ref>

As it relates to a monarch, the term {{lang|la|motu proprio}} describes the condition of a royal decree being made expressly on the sovereign's initiative, a practice more usual in some nations than in others.

Relating to [[orders of chivalry]], like the [[Order of Malta]], the [[Grand master (order)|grand master]] according to the statutes can confer the order {{lang|la|motu proprio}}, instead of in response to a nomination by a national delegation.

== See also ==

* [[List of motu proprios]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Catholicism|state=collapsed}}
{{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Motu Proprio}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Motu proprio| ]]
[[Category:Catholic canonical documents]]
[[Category:Holy See]]
[[Category:Latin legal terminology]]
[[Category:Sources of law]]