Historical importance of the principle in poenalibus causis benignius interpretandum est

Abstract

Searching the historical roots of the humanitarianism principle, which in some way determines the institutional shaping of the legal norms of criminal law and the rules of their interpretation, it is usual to point to the period of Enlightenment. However it should be noted, that the directive requiring the most favorable interpretation for the perpetrators was already known to Roman law. One of them was undoubtedly the principle in poenalibus causis benignius interpretandum est. The subject of this paper is the history of the title legal maxim, from its formulation by the Roman jurist Paulus to the canon law of the twentieth century.