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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.19.25.pr-48.19.25.1

Mitigation for Long Unsentenced Defendants and Prohibition of Cliff Execution

Passage 8406 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage regulates the mitigation of punishment for those who have remained under accusation for a long period, and prohibits sentencing anyone to be cast down from a rock.

[IDEM libro duodecimo pandectarum. ] §48.19.25.prSi diutino tempore aliquis in reatu fuerit, aliquatenus poena eius subleuanda erit: sic etiam constitutum est non eo modo puniendos eos, qui longo tempore in reatu agunt, quam eos qui in recenti sententiam excipiunt. §48.19.25.1Non potest quis sic damnari, ut de saxo praecipitetur.
[THE SAME, from the twelfth book of the Pandects.]\n\nIf someone has been under accusation for a long time, his punishment must be mitigated to some extent; and thus it has also been established that those who remain under accusation for a long time should not be punished in the same manner as those who receive their sentence recently.\n\nNo one can be condemned in such a way as to be cast down from a rock.

Notes

  1. §48.19.25.prnon eo modo ... quam — While the correlative structure 'eo modo... quo...' (in the same manner as...) is standard for comparison of equality, here, accompanied by the negation 'non', it is followed by the comparative conjunction 'quam', meaning 'should not be punished in the same manner as those who...'.
  2. §48.19.25.prin recenti — The adjective 'recenti' (ablative singular neuter) is used substantively. In contrast with the preceding phrase 'longo tempore' (for a long time), a noun such as 'tempore' (time) is understood, or 'crimine / reatu' (crime / accusation), meaning 'recently' or 'shortly after the event/accusation'.
  3. §48.19.25.1ut de saxo praecipitetur — A consecutive clause ('sic... ut') with the present subjunctive passive 'praecipitetur'. It refers to the traditional Roman punishment of casting down from the Tarpeian Rock ('saxum Tarpeium'), indicating that a sentence imposing this type of capital punishment is no longer permissible.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.19.25.pr-48.19.25.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.19.25.pr-48.19.25.1

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