Stručni rad
Criminal Procedure According to Dubrovnik Middle Ages Statutary Law
Pavao Krmpotić
Sažetak
Statutory criminal law was in use in Europe during the Middle Ages and it was characterized by particularism of regulations (regulations of local communities were validonly in their areas). Dalmatian municipal statutes were published on the model of the
statutes of Italian municipalities. Relations devoted to public law (authority organisation, criminal offences, criminal and civil procedure) and private law (personal law, law of property,
family law etc.) were arranged in the statutes. Executive and judicial powers were not divided in Dalmatian municipalities.
Criminal procedure in Dalmatian municipalities could be described as a transitional form of accusatorial to inquisitorial system with emphesized accusatorial elements and it was based on normative collections and judicial practice. Slavic infl uence on criminal procedure was manifested trough shared liability, application of «vrazda» and importance of jurors in criminal procedure.
According to Dubrovnik’s statute, criminal charges could be brought by offi cial duty (ex offi cio) or by pressing charges by a private person. The criminal procedure was completely carried out by court. Defendant was passive during the procedure. In spite of legal proof theory, the Criminal court in its practice was not strictly bound by provisions proscribed by Statute. In contrast to other municipalities in Europe, application of torture was rare and was used only to solve diffi cult criminal offences. There were three possible sentences: condemntion, acquital and, in contrast to other municipalities in Dalmatia, let underneath the trial. If the accused failed to appear in court, he was condemned. A possibility of amnesty and the second degree criminal procedure were present, such as two kinds of immunity: asylum and safe-conduct. During the great witch-hunts all around Europe, criminal procedures against witches were rare in Dubrovnik. There was a great importance of «stanak», that was a kind of court for solving disputes between strangers and the citizens of Dubrovnik.
Ključne riječi
Middle Ages; Dalmatian statutory law; criminal procedure; Dubrovnik Republic
Hrčak ID:
8557
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.12.2006.
Posjeta: 6.037 *