Tort obligation

In Roman law, the tort obligation referred to a debt and liability relationship between offender and victim that was triggered by a criminal act. A distinction was made between private delicta and public crimina in the corresponding crime .

Nature of the obligations of tort

Due to the accusable guilt from the offense, the perpetrator was legally bound to the injured party until the latter had received compensation from the personal liability of the person responsible. In contrast to a legal business bond, which derived the obligation from a lawful contract or promise between the contractual partners and the debtor's personnel and property pledging was therefore used to secure the resulting liabilities, liability from the private criminal offense primarily served the injured person's right to atonement, in the case of publicly prosecuted crimes, the state also has the right to penalize.

Civil law

The offenses that gave rise to a tort obligation were initially based on the private legal system, the ius civile . With the addition of ius honorarium of the praetors, the legal system in ancient Rome was continuously adapted to social changes. As a result, Roman law was continuously developed. In addition to the existing civil criminal complaints, such as theft ( furtum ), further facts were created that included a criminal qualification, such as robbery ( rapina ), or a supplement such as defamation in the iniuria . In addition, completely new types of crime, such as the unlawful threat ( vis metusve ) or fraudulent deception ( dolus malus ) have been standardized.

Public law

In the prosecution of some crimes that could harm both the individual and the general public, there was not only a private demand for atonement, but also a public interest in punishing the perpetrator. These included, in particular, state crimes such as high treason and treason ( perduellio ), creeping into office ( ambitus ) and the blackmail and exploitation of provinces ( pecuniae repetundae ). Murder ( parricidium ), which was persecuted and punished privately in ancient Roman times, was probably a public crime in the late Republic. In the case of poisonous murders ( veneficium ), however, the initiation of official state proceedings ( de veneficis ) was already considered certain in the old Republican times .

Legal consequences of obligations in tort

Delicta

The basic legal consequence of an obligato ex delicto was the penal action ( actio poenale ), which was aimed at paying a fine ( poena ) to atone for the act. If the act resulted in additional financial loss, a prosecution could be brought to compensate for the loss, in addition to the pure penalty action. The action for atonement for the act and for damages could also be brought together in a mixed penalty action. The Pönalklage was the injured themselves on their own initiative in the court magistrates charged. The procedure and compliance with the code of civil procedure was supervised and controlled by the latter.

The implementation and enforcement of the judgment was in the private power of the injured party.

Crimina

The public crimes were brought up in part by private reports ( nominis delatio ) by the injured party, or by anyone ( quivis ex populo ). Offenses of particular importance for the general public could be initiated ex officio through the praetor's complaint or in order to give the court magistrates additional powers, also at the instigation of the Senate ( senatus consultum ). Here, too, in certain case constellations, the private individual was able to bring a property-equalizing private lawsuit in addition to the state criminal prosecution.

The enforcement of the sanctions from these criminal proceedings were the sole responsibility of the state.

See also

• Bacchanal scandal
• Marcus Postumius Regillensis
• Quarta Hostilia

Legal sources

• Gaius : Institutiones , Digest .
• Ulpian : Digest.
• Iulius Paulus : Digest.

literature

• Joachim Ermann: Criminal Trial, Public Interest and Private Prosecution. Studies on the criminal law of the Roman Republic (= research on Roman law. 46). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2000, ISBN 3-412-08299-6 , Die Bacchanalien , pp. 8–32, The early poisoning processes , pp. 33–75.
• Max Kaser : Roman private law. Section 1: The ancient Roman, the pre-classical and classical law (= Handbook of Classical Studies . Abt. 10: Legal history of antiquity. Part 3, Vol. 3). 2nd, revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-406-01406-2 , § 39, pp. 146-150, § 142, pp. 609-614.
• Max Kaser: Roman legal history. Unchanged reprint of the 2nd, revised edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1976, ISBN 3-525-18102-7 , § 29, pp. 121-128.