Doctor of Canon Law
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Doctor of Canon Law (Latin: Juris Canonici Doctor; J.C.D.) is the doctoral level terminal degree in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It may also be abbreviated I.C.D. (Iuris Canonici Doctor), D.C.L., D.Cnl., D.D.C., or D.Can.L. (Doctor of Canon Law). Doctor of both laws (i.e. Canon and Civil) are J.U.D. (Juris Utriusque Doctor), or U.J.D. (Utriusque Juris Doctor). While not a civil law degree, the doctor of canon law is in some ways comparable to the doctor of juridical science (J.S.D.) in terms of academic level of study.
Only pontifical universities and ecclesiastical faculties of canon law may grant the doctorate in canon law.
A doctorate in canon law requires additional study and the development and defense of a dissertation after earning the licentiate in canon law (J.C.L.). The licentiate in canon law is a three-year degree, the prerequisite for the study of which is normally the graduate level bachelor of sacred theology (S.T.B.), a master of divinity (M.Div.), a master of arts in Catholic theology (M.A.), or a doctor of civil law degree (J.D.).
Auditors of the Roman Rota, judicial vicars, ecclesiastical judges, defenders of the bond, and promoters of justice must possess either a doctorate or licentiate in Canon Law, as must most advocates for a party in a trial heard in one of the tribunals of the Church.
The Catholic Church has the oldest continuously used homogenous legal system in the world. Many of the medieval universities of Europe had faculties of canon law (e.g., at Cambridge and Oxford). Since the Protestant Reformation, however, they became limited to those universities which retained Catholic faculties (e.g., Catholic University of Louvain, Pontificia Studiorum Universitas a S. Thoma Aq. in Urbe, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, University of Salamanca). Later, other Catholic universities with ecclesiastical faculties in canon law were given the ability to grant the degree (e.g., The Catholic University of America, University of Saint Paul).
See also
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