Recordando a Tomás y Valiente: la noción de delito en la España moderna

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between the concepts ›crime‹ and ›sin‹ as used in the criminal law of the modern Spanish Monarchy, analyzing the interpretative postulates of Francisco Tomás y Valiente’s classic work. Based on juridical and theological literature, as well as the types of »leges mere poenales« and »leges poenales mixtae«, the text analyzes the difference between »lata sententia« and »ferenda sententia« penal rules. To conclude, an evolution of the general criteria used to classify the penal statutes of the 19th century is explained.