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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.19.42.pr

Principle of Mitigating Penalties in Legal Interpretation

Passage 8423 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Hermogenianus states the principle that in the interpretation of laws, penalties should be mitigated rather than aggravated.

[HERMOGENIANUS libro primo epitomarum. ] §48.19.42.prInterpretatione legum poenae molliendae sunt potius quam asperandae.
[HERMOGENIANUS, from the First Book of Epitomes.] In the interpretation of laws, penalties should be softened rather than harshened.

Notes

  1. §48.19.42.prInterpretatione — Ablative singular of interpretatio, expressing the sphere or the means of the action ("in the interpretation" or "by the interpretation").
  2. §48.19.42.prmolliendae sunt potius quam asperandae — A passive periphrastic construction expressing obligation or propriety. In the second clause introduced by potius quam ("rather than"), the auxiliary verb sunt is omitted by ellipsis after asperandae.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.19.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.19.42.pr

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