A comparative study of the legal status of the crime of forgery in the Hispanic and English law in the Middle Ages

  • Luis Iglesias Rábade
Keywords: Forgery, Medieval Law, Hispanic, English, Comparative study

Abstract

This study examines and compares the indictable offense of forgery in the legal sources of Hispanic and Anglo-Saxon territories in Early and Late Middle Ages. An attempt is given to determine the development of: (i) the constituent elements of the crime, its distinguishing notes, its subject-matter and the prospective committers, (ii) the degree of responsibility of the offender, (iii) the ability of the graphical instrument to host a potential counterfeiting or forgery, (iv) the adequacy of legislative activity to this unlawful behaviour, (v) the interest legally protected, (vi) the development in the types of punishments; and (vii) how medieval society and institutions perceive «historical» and «diplomatic» forgery. This study examines the regulation of this offense in different Hispanic territorial jurisdictions. The legislative deficiencies relating to this crime in the English territories until 1413 is supplemented by the contributions of legal doctrine of Late Middle Ages and the law reports of the Year Books. 

Published online: 29 December 2016

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Published
2016-12-29
How to Cite
Iglesias Rábade, Luis. 2016. “A Comparative Study of the Legal Status of the Crime of Forgery in the Hispanic and English Law in the Middle Ages”. Estudios De Deusto 64 (2), 67-100. https://doi.org/10.18543/ed-64(2)-2016pp67-100.
Section
Studies