The Declaration of Absence of the Respondent in Marriage Nullity Trials: A Strategy for Dealing with the Obstructive Respondent

The purpose of the marriage nullity process is to discover whether the marriage under review is or is not a valid marriage. Since it is primarily the parties who provide the tribunal with the information needed to determine the truth about the marriage in question, the participation of both the petitioner and the respondent in the process is critically important.;Although the law is clear that respondents who refuse to participate in the trial can legitimately be declared absent (c. 1592), it is not clear about what tribunals can legitimately do when confronted with respondents who indicate an initial willingness to participate in the process but whose actual participation is obstructive. Cases with obstructive respondents pose a real challenge to the normal flow of the marriage annulment process, often causing great delays in the resolution of the case and unnecessary tensions among all those involved in the process.;The dissertation is a juridical study of the canonical institute of the declaration of absence in the 1983 Code of Canon Law and the instruction Dignitas connubii. The dissertation contributes to canonical studies by examining whether and in what circumstances the norms in both the code and the instruction regarding the declaration of absence of the respondent can be legitimately applied to the situation of the obstructive respondent in marriage nullity trials.;Chapter I examines the norms in the 1983 Code and the 2005 instruction Dignitas connubii on the declaration of absence of the respondent. This examination is preceded by a brief analysis of the norms in the 1917 Code and the instruction Provida mater on the declaration of contumacy of the respondent. Chapter II examines the norms in the 1983 Code and the instruction Dignitas connubii on selected procedural acts in the contentious marriage annulment process where the respondent's non-cooperation might surface. Chapter III examines whether and under what circumstances, in light of the norms of the 1983 Code, the instruction Dignitas connubii, and current canonical literature, the canonical provisions on the declaration of absence of the respondent can be legitimately applied to the situation of the obstructive respondent in marriage nullity trials.