Latae sententiae

The award punishment (Latin poena ferendae sententiae ) is in the criminal law of the Roman Catholic Church, which is part of the canon law, one of the two basic types of ecclesiastical penalties; the other is the automatic penalty (Latin poena latae sententiae ). The rule is the penalty verdict.

The difference between saying sentences and automatic penalties is that a spell penalty shall be expressly imposed by a competent authority; is responsible in the first instance usually the diocesan bishop or a member appointed by this court; However, there are a number of specific responsibilities of other instances, such as the Pope or the Roman Rota.

In contrast, takes the automatic penalty with a commission of the offense by itself, without having to be explicitly imposed. An example of a latae sententiae excommunication is in use of physical force against the Pope.