★ Keep up to date with the latest news - subscribe to the Transcribe Bentham newsletter; Find a new page to transcribe in our list of Untranscribed Manuscripts
12)
Common Law. Division of it into Customs and Maxims.
I live, say, in the 14th, or say in the 15th Century. I
am a Lawyer. This question is propounded to me?
Is the King punishable for any act he does? I set
myself to consider. I first consider a priori and
in general – If punished, by what means should
he be punished. Who shall appoint the mode and
quantity of his punishment? Whose shall be the hand
that shall inflict it? Who shall appoint his punishment.
The Judges?, but it is he who makes them and unmakes
them: Shall they offer to punish him?
He speaks the word, and they are no longer Judges.
The Great Barons? But it is he that gives them license
to assemble. Assembling without that license,
they are criminals, not Judges. The Representatives
of the people? They are nothing. The great body
of the people? may be so, and with reason. But
when that moves, there is an end of Law. It
is not punishment, but hostility.
I next consider the matter a posteriori in point
of fact, descending to particulars – Is there any act
of those men in ordinary men deemed criminal, for which
in point of fact the Sovereign has been punished.
It take in hand such as I can make to for myself
the table of offences. I look it over. I begin with
Treason. Has there ever a King been punished for
Treason? The My answer is, it is impossible. For Incendiarism? Homicide and so on descending from the
highest crimes as many as I can think of down to simple invasions of property,
Identifier: | JB/028/134/004 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 28.
|
|||
---|---|---|---|
not numbered |
|||
028 |
comment on the commentaries |
||
134 |
common law division of it into customs and maxims |
||
004 |
|||
text sheet |
4 |
||
recto |
b9 f9 / e10 / b11 / e12 |
||
jeremy bentham |
[[watermarks::[monogram] [britannia emblem]]] |
||
9399 |
|||