The Mayan law was the system of laws that used the Maya civilization during its more than 2000 years of existence. Relatively few historical records exist of the way the laws for this civilization worked, as the Spanish destroyed the records during the Conquest.
However, modern anthropological studies have managed to understand certain fundamental characteristics of the Mayan legal system, which are reinforced by texts of aboriginal authorship dating from the time of the Conquest. The Mayan civilization is believed to be older than the Aztec.
These laws were different from the European ones, and the Mayan civilization gave a name to its legislative system: Tlamelahuacachinaliztli, which means “justice; to straighten what is crooked ”.
History
The Mayan civilization existed for two millennia before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. They spread throughout Central America and it is believed that they had contact with the civilizations that inhabited the northern part of Mesoamerica through commercial relations.
Very little was known about the way in which the Maya lived until relatively recently, thanks to the progress that has been made in deciphering the hieroglyphs and drawings that date back to the time.
The history of the Mayans and their historical advance never followed a definite path. With the passage of time, many of its cities advanced technologically and grew, to later collapse and repeat the process again. The influence of each city for civilization also varied depending on the historical epoch.
However, the period from 250 to 900 AD was the most prosperous for this civilization. They were ruled by leaders of dynasties, which allowed a quite rich population, cultural and artistic growth, which deeply favored civilization.
When the Spanish arrived in Central America, the Mayan states had a much lower level of organization than they once reached, with decentralized cities and a lack of direction.
Mayan legislation
The laws of the Maya were approved by the halach uinic, or supreme leader. If one does not exist at the time, the city council was in charge of doing it. The local chiefs of the villages were responsible for enforcing the laws.
The laws were not limited to criminal law, there were laws for all areas of life in the Mayan civilization. For example, family laws dictated that women must marry at 16 or 17 years old and it was tradition that the couple was chosen by a third party.
By law, parents had to educate their children. However, the children lived with each other in local dormitories and returned home to work with their parents.
The Maya also legislated property rights, and the systems resembled those used in colonial America. The nobles had lands where the less wealthy worked, and the latter had small plots where they lived.
Wars also had their laws. The head of the civilization had a military leader at his side with whom he made decisions in battles. During the war, local chiefs had to send troops from their villages to fight against other civilizations.
Right
Mayan law was exercised quite strictly. It is known that they did not have prisons, and the crimes were punished severely, depending on their seriousness.
One of the reasons why it is so difficult to know with certainty how the Maya acted in their trials is the lack of written material in them. Trials were held in public and no information about them was kept on paper or stone.
All witnesses were required to swear to the veracity of their testimony and, according to some historical records, it is valid to believe that there were people who acted in a similar way to today's lawyers. However, it is not known for sure if this was the case.
The trial was carried out by the same local chief of the village or town where the trial was held. It was this person who evaluated the events, determined whether or not there was intentionality at the time the action was committed and, based on this, exercised a relevant punishment on the accused.
Mayan crimes
Under the legal system of the Mayans, crimes were punished harshly. Murder, rape, incest, arson, and acts that were considered to offend the gods were punishable by death.
However, it is important to note that the legal system of the Mayans took into account acts that were not intentional.
In case of defining a murder as intentional, the murderer was sentenced to death, but if the act he committed was not deliberate, he was made to sell a slave to the injured family or provide him with some good.
Thefts were punished by forcing the thief to return what he took and even through temporary slavery. If the thief or person tried died before serving the sentence, their relatives inherited it and had to serve it for the deceased.
Homes were protected from perpetrators, as it was not customary to use doors in this civilization. Anyone who entered a foreign home to cause harm was punished with death. Similarly, the nobles were treated with special severity in the sentences.
Exceptions and pardons
Mayan legislation allowed anyone who was convicted of a crime to receive the forgiveness of the injured party.
For example, adultery was considered a crime for the Mayans. If the man who committed it came to be forgiven by the woman's husband, his death was forgiven and another punishment was assigned.
This also worked like that with assassins. If the family of the murdered man forgave the thief, he had to pay his crime by restitution (giving the injured family some good) and his life was spared.
References
- Maya Law, Talrton Law Library of Texas, (nd). Taken from utexas.edu
- Ancient Laws - Mayan Law, Beacon Hill Institute, (nd). Taken from beaconhill.edu.hk
- Law and Justice in the Mayan and Aztec Empires (2,600 BC-1,500 AD), Duhaime Online, (nd). Taken from duhaime.org
- Legal Systems Very Different from Ours, David Friedman, November 5, 2013. Taken from daviddfriedman.com
- Government of the Maya, History on the Net, (nd). Taken from historyonthenet.com