Halsgerichtsordnung [German, literally, “neck court order”; plural: Halsgerichtsordnungen] designates compilations of legal rules for criminal procedure that emerged in the late Middle Ages at courts of law that passed judgment on serious criminal acts and could impose punishment on “neck and hand,” that is, the death penalty and corporal punishment. In some cases, such criminal orders also contained measures concerning substantive criminal law, that is, they listed individual crimes (Criminal offense) and the punishments threatened for committing them. Norma…
Halsgerichtsordnung (672 words)
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Kesper-Biermann, Sylvia, “Halsgerichtsordnung”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 25 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_020590>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180915
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