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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.8.12.pr

Immunity of Infants and the Insane from Murder Charges

Passage 8251 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It states that if an infant or an insane person commits homicide, they are exempt from criminal liability under the Lex Cornelia due to the lack of intent or their mental misfortune.

[IDEM libro octauo regularum. ] §48.8.12.prInfans uel furiosus si hominem occiderint, lege Cornelia non tenentur, cum alterum innocentia consilii tuetur, alterum fati infelicitas excusat.
[THE SAME AUTHOR, Rules, Book 8] If an infant or a madman kills a human being, they are not held liable under the Lex Cornelia, since the innocence of intention protects the one, and the unhappiness of fate excuses the other.

Notes

  1. §48.8.12.prnon tenentur — The passive form of the verb tenere serves as a technical legal term meaning "to be bound by a law," "to be held liable," or "to be prosecuted." Since the subject is plural (infans uel furiosus), the third-person plural tenentur is used here.
  2. §48.8.12.pralterum ... alterum — Used correlatively to refer back to the two preceding nouns (infans and furiosus) in order. The first alterum refers to the infant (who is protected by the innocence of intention, innocentia consilii, because they lack the capacity to form criminal intent), and the second alterum refers to the madman (who is excused by the misfortune of fate, fati infelicitas, meaning an involuntary mental disorder).
  3. §48.8.12.prcum ... tuetur ... excusat — The conjunction cum introducing a reason is used here with the indicative verbs (tuetur, excusat). This construction is employed to express an objective fact or an indubitable, established cause.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.8.12.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.8.12.pr

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