Report No. 90
Appendix 2
Extracts Relating to Canon Law1
Classification of Impediments
Impediments are:
1. Of divine law or of ecclesiastical law, according to their origin;
2. Impediment (merely prohibitive) or diriment (invalidating), according to their effect (C. 1036);
3. Absolute or relative, according as they affect the person regardless of, or only in relation to certain other persons;
4. Public or occult, according as they can or cannot be proved in the external forum (C. 1037);
5. Permanent or temporary, according to their duration;
6. Certain or doubtful;
7. Dispensable or non-dispensable, according as they can or cannot be removed by dispensation;
8. Major or minor, according to their grade (C. 1042).