Autore
Annen, Sébastien

Titolo
Defending the indefensible. Atrocious crimes and miscarriages of justice in France during the Age of Enlightenment
Periodico
Quaderni storici
Anno: 2012 - Volume: 141 - Fascicolo: 3 - Pagina iniziale: 693 - Pagina finale: 722

This article examines the arguments used in the 18th century by the defencelawyers of those who had been convicted of atrocious crimes but werevictims of a miscarriage of justice. These extreme cases, which appeared indefensibleuntil the final recognition of innocence, make it possible to examinethe complexity of the pleadings printed in the public arena and addressedto the Privy Council of the King of France. However, these publications,which deconstructed the incriminating evidence, were far from being limitedto a strictly legal dimension. They rebuilt the integrity of those convictedand confirmed that these atrocious crimes had no precedent in history and,above all, went against nature. The defence lawyers thus ended by blockingthe ontological possibility of the atrocious crimes - which could not be committedor thought of - in order to confirm the obvious innocence of thoseconvicted. These arguments fuelled 18th century debates on philanthropy andthe demand for justice.



SICI: 0301-6307(2012)141:3<693:DTIACA>2.0.ZU;2-W
Testo completo: http://www.mulino.it/download/article/10.1408/38806
Testo completo alternativo: http://www.mulino.it/doi/10.1408/38806

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