Aztec Law: System of Justice, Criminal Law, Offenses and Judges

He Aztec right it refers to all the laws and justice system employed by the tribe known as Mexica, which is more commonly referred to as Aztec. The beliefs of this civilization in the legal department were largely related to war.

During the entire existence of the Aztecs, who came to amass an empire with more than 15 million inhabitants, the policies of war were innumerable. The warlike belief of the Aztec civilization in turn forged a judicial system highly influenced by this same one.

It was a system that was based mainly on the technical application of laws, instead of evaluating each problem one by one, systematically. In this respect it differs from the system applied by other Mesoamerican tribes of the time, such as the Mayan system.

Justice system

The Aztec justice system was highly complex. It was designed to maintain order in society and maintain respect for government institutions. The laws revolved around tradition: they were inherited from generation to generation and, based on these an intricate system was created.

They had court systems, where there were judges who were responsible for enforcing the laws. The system allowed the judges to act in a somewhat liberal manner, judging the situation according to their own judgment and then applying the rules as they were described.

In some cases, when they appeared in the offending courts, a special punishment could be applied as a consequence of the repetition of legal faults.

The Aztec legal system took a definite form when the great leader of the Texaco, Nezahualcoyotl, wrote a code of 80 statutes that aimed to improve the legal system and establish greater order in the society of the time.

The judicial system was structured in a very similar way to the current United States system. The cases were taken to the courts in first instance, then they were submitted to a series of appeals and could be taken to special courts, depending on the circumstance.

Criminal law

The crimes in the Aztec justice system were severely punished. In turn, the type of punishment depended on the crime that was carried out; however, the most common form of punishment was execution.

Crimes that did not merit execution could be punished in various ways, such as the destruction of the house of the guilty, the haircut of the criminal or prison sentences. Depending on the type of crime, the criminal's family could also be punished.

Unlike the Mayans, the Aztec civilization had an extensive prison system that accompanied its judicial system. These prisons included corridors of death (areas where those who were to be executed were imprisoned), areas for those who did not pay their debts and even small cells for people who were guilty of minor crimes.

The conditions in some prison systems were so strong that the prisoners used to die while serving their sentences.

Punishments could be carried out in various ways, especially death sentences. Depending on the type of crime, the punishment could be very painful or death could be quick. These decisions were taken in full by the judge in charge of the case.

Aztec crimes

The Aztecs considered many crimes important enough to be punished with the death penalty. Homicide, perjury, rape, abortion, armed robbery, defamation, destruction of property of others and many others were punished by death.

Thefts were considered particularly serious crimes. If it was stolen from a merchant, a temple or military forces, it could be punished with death. Likewise, the capital punishment could also be executed on anyone who posed as a member of royalty using the emperor's insignia.

However, simple robbery (as long as it was not armed) was punished more simply. The thief was forced to pay the price of the stolen object to its owner, and in case of not being able to pay it, the thief became the slave of the victim.

Adultery was also considered a crime punishable by death. In fact, not only those who practiced adultery were sentenced to death, but also anyone who knew the case and did not report it to a court.

Children and adolescents

Children under the age of 10 were not considered capable of committing crimes, but they could be taken to court by their parents if they were disrespectful. In fact, they were executed if they attacked their parents physically.

Another punishment that could be imposed on children in the courts was that they were disinherited by their parents, or even beaten to show them respect.

Teens and young people could not be seen drunk in public, because this was also considered a crime worthy of execution.

Judges

Thursdays in the Aztec judicial system acted in three different courts. There was one in the first instance that was responsible for the crimes committed by ordinary people. In second instance, there were judges in superior courts that were in charge of dealing with appeals and judgments of warriors and nobles.

Finally, the Aztecs had a Supreme Court, with judges able to deal with special cases and concerning the empire. The one in charge of making the final decision in the Supreme Court was a judge called chief justice.

However, any decision could be taken by the emperor, who held public trials every 12 days to evaluate certain decisions that merited his participation.

The judges were seen with great respect and honor, as they were said to act fairly, ethically and impartially. The emperor himself was in charge of selecting a superior judge who elected the rest of the judges of the empire.

The position of judge lasted for the rest of the person's life and they could only be removed from office for misconduct or malpractice.

References

1. Aztec Judicial System, Tarlton Law Library of Texas, (n.d.). Taken from utexas.edu
2. Aztec Legal System and Sources of Law, Tarlton Law Library of Texas, (n.d.). Taken from utexas.edu
3. Aztec Criminal Law, Tarlton Law Library of Texas, (n.d.). Taken from utexas.edu
4. Aztec crime and punishment, Aztec History Online, (n.d.). Taken from aztec-history.com
5. The Aztec Legal System, Dale Andrade, 2004. Taken from daviddfriedman.com