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El artículo presenta un análisis de las leyes canónicas contra la profanación del sacramento católico de la Eucaristía. El autor ofrece una revisión de diferentes regulaciones al respecto a lo largo de la historia del Derecho canónico, la cual incluye la evolución de la tipificación de este delito y su castigo.

The article presents commentary on a circular letter dated April 18th, 2009 from cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See, to all ordinaries of the Catholic Church, describing special powers granted to the congregation by the Pope to intervene in certain cases regarding the defrocking of priests. These powers include expulsion from the clergy by extrajudicial decree, waiver of celibacy, and application of "ex officio" procedures for the deprivation of clerical status, according to the article. The powers question both the mandatory application of the judicial process in imposing perpetual sanctions and the characterization of crimes punishable by expulsion, as stipulated in the Code of Canon Law, the article asserts.

The article presents a reprint, in Spanish, of the substantive norms of the amended "Normae de gravioribus delictis," norms governing the power of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Holy See to judge and punish crimes against the Catholic faith. The norms authorize the congregation to judge cardinals, patriarchs, and bishops, define crimes against the faith as heresy, apostasy and schism, and establish that such a crime committed is extinguished by prescription after 20 years.

Allegations of the reckless or intentional transmission of HIV raise challenging questions about how states can best address a disease which is transmitted primarily through behaviours that both states and community "police" in different ways. This paper argues that in the rare cases in which someone engages in specific behaviour with the intent to infect another person with HIV, existing laws such as laws against battery are sufficient to allow for the application of the criminal law. It discusses three key points: the potential consequences of new laws criminalising the transmission of HIV, why vague laws criminalising the knowing transmission of HIV fail to meet key requirements of criminal law and are an abuse of the state's policing power, and thirdly, the growing inclusion of such laws within sexual offences legislation. Laws criminalising the transmission of HIV risk bringing within the scope of legal sanction people living with HIV who are acting in ways that do not merit punishment and may as a result of prosecution face adverse human rights consequences. Les allégations de contamination intentionnelle ou par imprudence du VIH soulèvent des questions délicates sur la manière dont les États peuvent le mieux s'attaquer à une maladie qui est transmise principalement par des comportements que les États et la communauté « policent » de différentes manières. Cet article avance que dans les rares cas où un individu agit dans l'intention d'en infecter un autre avec le VIH, la législation existante, par exemple contre l'agression, suffit pour appliquer le droit pénal. Il examine trois points clés : les conséquences potentielles des nouvelles lois criminalisant la transmission du VIH, pourquoi les lois vagues qui criminalisent la transmission en connaissance de cause du VIH ne réunissent pas les critères essentiels du droit pénal et constituent un abus du pouvoir policier de l'État et, troisièmement, l'inclusion croissante de ces lois dans la législation sur les délits sexuels. Les lois qui criminalisent la transmission du VIH risquent de placer sous la menace de sanctions juridiques des personnes vivant avec le VIH dont les actions ne sont pas justiciables d'une punition et à qui ces poursuites peuvent valoir des conséquences négatives sur leurs droits fondamentaux. Las alegaciones de transmisión irresponsable o intencional del VIH plantean interrogantes difíciles de responder respecto a la mejor manera en que el estado puede tratar una enfermedad transmitida principalmente mediante comportamientos que tanto el estado como la comunidad "vigilan" en diferentes formas. En este artículo se arguye que en los raros casos en que alguien se comporta de una manera específica con la intención de infectar a otra persona con VIH, las leyes en vigor, como las que prohíben los malos tratos, son suficientes para permitir la aplicación de la ley penal. Se tratan tres puntos importantes: las posibles consecuencias de nuevas leyes que penalizan la transmisión del VIH, por qué las leyes poco precisas que penalizan la transmisión intencional del VIH no cumplen con los requisitos fundamentales de la ley penal y abusan del poder policial del estado y, por último, la creciente inclusión de dichas leyes en la legislación contra delitos sexuales. Las leyes que penalizan la transmisión del VIH arriesgan poner al alcance de la sanción jurídica a las personas que viven con VIH pero se comportan en formas que no merecen castigo y que, a consecuencia del enjuiciamiento, podrían afrontar adversas consecuencias para sus derechos humanos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reform of penal canon law, whose fruit is Book VI of the CIC of 1983, has reduced the area subject to coercion, has strengthened the recourse to charity and equity in the application of the law, has attempted to match the defense of the common good with the protection of subjective rights and has facilitated legal means so that the responsibility in the exercise of coercive power may be more distributed between central and local governments. The principal legislative novelties after the CIC of 1983 refer to the complete reception of the various forms of magisterium (motu proprio Ad tuendam Fidem) and have clarified important issues regarding the delimitation of the delicta graviora and jurisdiction over them (motu proprio Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela). The crises suffered recently by the Church should lead to an awareness of the role corresponding to penal canon law in the protection and defense of the common good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the penal process of Canon Law, as well as the nature and action of the Promoter of Justice. The author highlights what is described as a declination in the realization of criminal proceedings even in the context of accusations of sexual abuse of minors committed by clergy. Possible reasons behind this are outlined, including the need to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt to administer punishment, and the view of the commission of the sin itself to be a manner of punishment.

This article examines the creation and legacy of the 1957 Wolfenden Report, arguing that current trends to simplistically address the Report, along with a long standing academic focus on Foucault and the nineteenth century, have disregarded the productive and revolutionary nature of its recommendations enacted in the Sexual Offences Act 1967. Contrary to the common emphasis placed on Victorian medical discourse, and the 1895 trials of Oscar Wilde, it was the Wolfenden Report and the twentieth century that created the homosexual identity in law - an identity created not with a view to freedom, as is regularly assumed, but with the objective of the control of recalcitrant bodies in the forms of men's homosexual sex, and women's prostitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]