A influência do direito canônico no direito civil brasileiro: reflexos na matéria matrimonial e nas nulidades do casamento

Abstract

The institution of marriage is an essential element for the formation and maintenance of social organization, as well as for the perpetuation of the human species. In Canon Law, it is an indissoluble union, incapable of being dissolved by the will of the spouses themselves, as it represents the unity of two bodies into one. Civil marriage, on the other hand, has a legal and consensual basis, being considered by most legal scholars to be essentially a civil contract. Both canonical and civil normative systems seek to regulate and safeguard this institution in order to provide legal certainty to the relationships arising from it. However, there are structural differences between the institutions of matrimonial invalidity in each country. The objective of this study was toinvestigate the influence of Canon Law on Civil Law in the regulation of matrimonial invalidities. A comparative analysis was conducted between fundamental concepts of marriage in Canon Law and Brazilian Civil Law, with emphasis on the principles of marital invalidity in both systems. It was concluded that many normative principles of Canon Law have influenced and continue to influence the norms of the Brazilian Civil Code concerning marriage, its validity, invalidity, annulment, and nullity.