Citation

Summerson H. J. Legal Hist. 2000; 21(1): 49-56.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Informa- Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/01440362108539604

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The law of suicide as set out in Bracton gives an important place to those who kill themselves to escape conviction for felony. Such cases were in fact few. There are interesting similarities between the way the courts treated suicides and their attitude towards suspects who stood silent in court, preferring to die under peine forte et dure; in both cases there was stress upon the deliberate nature of the act, and consequently forfeiture of chattels. But death by peine was not in practice equated with suicide, and the Bractonian doctrine which might have caused it to be so was disregarded. © 2000, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Language: en