"penal case" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It usually refers to a criminal case that has been brought before a court of law. For example: "The suspect's attorney argued that the penal case should be dismissed due to insufficient evidence."
Many dioceses have church tribunals capable of handling just matters like marriage annulments, and not penal cases.
At the first level is the tribunal, to which civil and commercial litigation is submitted and which takes action in penal cases of the first instance.
Only the pope can handle penal cases against bishops under canonical law, so if the taboo against disciplining bishops is to be broken, only he can break it.
In 2011 there were 640 civil cases and 226 penal cases processed by the Vatican's judiciary, 99 per cent of which involved some of the 18 million tourists who pass through the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica each year.
Judge Rocha wrote that under the country's penal code, cases against defendants with dementia should be dismissed.
The Kolkata police district registered 15,510 Indian Penal Code cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country.
Call to abolish the penal code Amina's case sheds light on persistent barriers to justice for child victims of sexual violence, child marriage and exploitation.
In CAR, witchcraft is a criminal offense under the penal code, punishable by execution in cases where the 'witch' is accused of homicide.
He was charged and tried for "public denigration of Turkish identity" under Article 301 of the penal code later that year, but the case was subsequently dropped in the wake of international outrage.
In our case, the penal code is quite clear.
