Book contents
Question 35
from PART III
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2015
Summary
IF the judge perceives that the denounced person is in the end taking refuge in the remedy of appeal, the first thing to be noted is that it is sometimes decided that an appeal is valid and just, sometimes that it is frivolous and void. The proceedings in matters of the Faith should be summary, simple and informal, as has often been stated in the foregoing, on the basis of Chapter “Multorum querela” in the Clementines, where the remedy of appeal is in fact forbidden, but because it is sometimes the case that the hard work entailed by the matter means that judges readily postpone and delay it, they can note that in a situation where the denounced person feels that he has in fact been oppressed by the judge contrary to the law and justice on the grounds that the judge was unwilling to allow him to defend himself, or that by himself and without | a panel of others or the agreement of the bishop or his vicar the judge sentenced him to questioning under torture, despite the fact that he could have got other sufficient proofs for and against him, and the like, then in that case the appeal would be just. Otherwise, not.
The second thing to be noted is that when an appeal of this kind is presented to the judge, he ought to ask for a copy of the appeal without emotional consternation, making a verbal declaration that time is not pressing for him. He should note that when the denounced person hands over the copy of the appeal, he still has two days to respond and after this another thirty to present the attachment. In the situation where he is very experienced and knowledgeable, he could immediately make his response and give one kind of attachment or the other, but in order for the proceedings to be conducted cautiously, it is better to set for the denounced person a deadline of ten, twenty or twenty-five days within which the kind of attachment that the judge decides to give will be given and received, the judge reserving the right to make a postponement within the statutory period of time.
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- The Hammer of WitchesA Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum, pp. 648 - 657Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009