FRANCISCO DE VITÓRIA’S CRIMINAL LAW CONCEPTS IN DE LEGIBUS AND THE HUMAN DIGNITY

Abstract

Criminal Enlightenment emerged as the culmination of a process of paradigm shifts. Thus, it owed much to the pioneering positions that were developed prior to its emergence, particularly those of rationalist Natural Law, which formed the foundation of legal thought in the Modern Age. In this context, Francisco de Vitória’s penal ideas take on notable importance for understanding the foundations of modern Criminal Law, as they are linked to the Enlightenment. These ideas break with the medieval paradigm and replace theocentrism with anthropocentrism in the criminal field, as evidenced both by the custom of leniency toward the defendant and by the linking of punishment to guilt.