The Aztec law refers to all laws and the justice system employing known as Mexica tribe, 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 warrior belief of the Aztec civilization in turn forged a judicial system highly influenced by it.
Justice system
The Aztec justice system was highly complex. It was designed to maintain order in society and maintain respect for the institutions of government. 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 somewhat liberally, judging the situation according to their own judgment and then applying the rules as they were described.
In some cases, when recurrent offenders appeared in court, a special punishment could be applied as a result of repeated misconduct.
The Aztec legal system took a definite shape when the great leader of the Texoco, 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 much like the current system in the United States. Cases were taken to the courts in the first instance, then they were subjected to a series of appeals and could be taken to special courts, depending on the circumstance.
Criminal law
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 guilty house, the cut of the criminal's hair, 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 jails included corridors of death (areas where those who were to be executed were imprisoned), areas for those who did not pay debts, and even small cells for people who were guilty of minor crimes.
Conditions in some prison systems were so harsh that 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 made entirely 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, abortions, armed robbery, defamation, destruction of the property of others and many others were punishable by death.
Thefts were considered particularly serious crimes. If it was robbed from a merchant, a temple or the military forces, it could be punished with death.
In the same way, capital punishment could also be carried out on anyone posing as royalty using the emperor's insignia.
However, simple robbery (as long as it was not armed) was punished in a simpler way. 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 was turned into a slave of the injured party.
Adultery was also considered a crime punishable by death. In fact, not only those who practiced adultery were sentenced to death, but also everyone 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 could be brought to court by their parents if they were disrespectful. In fact, they were executed if they physically attacked their parents.
Another punishment that could be imposed on children in court was that they were disinherited by their parents, or even that they were flogged to teach them respect.
Adolescents and young people could not be seen drunk in public, as this was also considered a crime worthy of execution.
Judges
On Thursdays in the Aztecs judicial system they acted in three different courts. There was one in the first instance that took charge of crimes committed by ordinary people. In the second instance, there were judges in superior courts who were in charge of dealing with appeals and with trials of warriors and nobles.
Finally, the Aztecs had a Supreme Court, with judges capable of handling special cases concerning the empire. The final decision maker in the Supreme Court was a judge called the chief justice.
However, any decision could be intervened by the emperor, who carried out public trials every 12 days to evaluate certain decisions that merited his participation.
The judges were viewed 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 chose the rest of the empire's judges.
The position of judge lasted for the rest of the person's life and could only be removed from office for misconduct or malpractice.
References
- Aztec Judicial System, Tarlton Law Library of Texas, (nd). Taken from utexas.edu
- Aztec Legal System and Sources of Law, Tarlton Law Library of Texas, (nd). Taken from utexas.edu
- Aztec Criminal Law, Tarlton Law Library of Texas, (nd). Taken from utexas.edu
- Aztec crime and punishment, Aztec History Online, (nd). Taken from aztec-history.com
- The Aztec Legal System, Dale Andrade, 2004. Taken from daviddfriedman.com