Canon 1608

Can. 1608 §1. For the pronouncement of any sentence, the judge must have moral certitude about the matter to be decided by the sentence.

Can. 1608 §2. The judge must derive this certitude from the acts and the proofs.

Can. 1608 §3. The judge, however, must appraise the proofs according to the judge's own conscience, without prejudice to the prescripts of law concerning the efficacy of certain proofs.

Can. 1608 §4. A judge who was not able to arrive at this certitude is to pronounce that the right of the petitioner is not established and is to dismiss the respondent as absolved, unless it concerns a case which has the favor of law, in which case the judge must pronounce for that.