Vatican City
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- elective ecclesiastical monarchy; self-defined as an "absolute monarchy"
- CONSTITUTION
- February 22, 2001 (Fundamental Law of the Vatican City State, main regulatory act of Vatican civil entities); in June 2018, Pope Francis approved the first draft of the Council of Cardinals for the new apostolic constitution, Predicato Evangelium (Preaching the Gospel); it came into effect on June 5, 2022, replacing Pastor Bonus, the previous governing document of the Roman Curia
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- religious legal system based on canon law (religious); it has not submitted to the jurisdiction of the ICJ
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court or Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (composed of the cardinal prefect, who serves as the ex officio president of the tribunal, and 2 other cardinals from the Prefectural Signatura); Court of Appeal of the Vatican City; Tribunal of the Vatican City
RELIGIONS
Roman Catholic
From the country
- JANUARY 1, 2005Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
The Vatican formally abolished the death penalty from its constitution in 2001.
The Vatican formally abolished the death penalty from its constitution in 2001.
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2004Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
Since St
Since St
- DECEMBER 16, 2003Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
Renato Cardinal Martino, head of the Pontifical Council...
Renato Cardinal Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said Saddam Hussein should face trial for his crimes but stressed the Vatican's opposition to the death penalty and criticized the US military for portraying him ``like a cow''
- JANUARY 1, 2003Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
The Vatican formally abolished the death penalty from...
The Vatican formally abolished the death penalty from its constitution in 2001
- JANUARY 1, 2003Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
Vatican use of the death penalty persisted into the...
Vatican use of the death penalty persisted into the 19th century, with hangings under Pope Pius IX, but no execution was carried out since the establishment of the modern state in 1929
- JANUARY 1, 2003Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
The revised Vatican constitution that took effect on...
The revised Vatican constitution that took effect on February 22, 2001 removed the death penalty from the text of the Fundamental Law, equivalent to a constitution, which dates back to the 1929 creation of the modern Vatican city-state
- JULY 26, 2002Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
A Vatican representative delivered a papal letter to...
A Vatican representative delivered a papal letter to Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo asking him to declare a moratorium on the death penalty for the rest of his presidency
- JUNE 9, 2002Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, a Honduran, a top...
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, a Honduran, a top Vatican official accused the American media of persecuting the Roman Catholic Church over paedophile priests, but even as he did so a Washington Post survey laid bare the extent of the scandal
- JANUARY 1, 2002Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
The Vatican maintained capital punishment into the...
The Vatican maintained capital punishment into the twentieth century with hangings taking place during the papacy of Pius IX
- APRIL 28, 2001Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
Pope John Paul II has asked President Bush to spare...
Pope John Paul II has asked President Bush to spare the life of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who is scheduled to be executed on May 16
- FEBRUARY 22, 2001Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was abolished from the constitution...
The death penalty was abolished from the constitution of the Vatican City State
- NOVEMBER 3, 2000Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
Pope John Paul said in an address to Ministers from...
Pope John Paul said in an address to Ministers from the 41 countries of the Council of Europe who were in Rome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the European Convention on Human Rights, that the Council of Europe has succeeded in having