Dal caso alla regola. Un esempio nella criminalistica del tardo diritto comune

By analysing some Pratiche Criminali published in the modern era, the essay explores the inductive reasoning through which jurists, starting from a specific case, enucleated a rule or principle. In some cases, the high or central courts accepted and implemented the theories developed by the legal doctrine; in other cases, it was the courts’ decisions to become a point of reference in the development of the criminal law theories, in a process of cross contamination and mutual influence. In particular, the paper is focused on the functioning of the in dubio pro reo principle, already sanctioned by ancient sources but which, with specific reference to the penalty of hand cutting, ends up taking on surprising nuances and variations.