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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.19.18.pr

Principle That Mere Thoughts Are Not Punishable

Passage 8399 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian states the legal principle that no one is punished for mere thoughts.

[ULPIANUS libro tertio ad edictum. ] §48.19.18.prCogitationis poenam nemo patitur.
[ULPIANUS, from the third book on the Edict.] No one suffers punishment for a thought.

Notes

  1. §48.19.18.prcogitationis — Genitive singular of the noun *cogitatio* (thought, intention). It functions as an objective genitive or a genitive of cause modifying *poenam* (punishment), meaning "punishment for a thought." It expresses the legal maxim that internal thoughts alone, without external manifestation, do not incur criminal liability.
  2. §48.19.18.prpatitur — The third-person singular present indicative of the deponent verb *patior* (to suffer, undergo). Combined with the negative pronoun *nemo* (no one) as the subject, it forms the general negation "no one undergoes [punishment for a thought]."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.19.18.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.19.18.pr

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