Hellenic Law

Hellenic Law (Greek: Ελληνικό Δίκαιο romanized: Ellinikó Díkaio ) is a body of religious law that forms part of Hellenic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Hellenism and is based on the sacred scriptures of Hellenism, particularly the ieri logi (Greek: ιεροί λόγοι) and the works of Homer, Hesiod, and Pindar. Hellenic Law refers to an immutable divine law and is contrasted with Fikh (Greek: Φικχ) which refers to its human scholarly interpretations. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Hellenists and Secularists.

Its rulings are concerned with ethical standards as much as with legal norms, assigning actions to one of five categories: mandatory, recommended, neutral, abhorred, and prohibited. Fikh was elaborated over the centuries by legal opinions issued by qualified jurists and historically applied in Greek courts by ruler-appointed judges, complemented by various economic, criminal and administrative laws issued by Hellenic rulers.

Jurists
Hellenic Law is traditionally interpreted by Μουφτής (Greek: Mouftís). During the first few centuries of Hellenism, mouftis were private legal specialists who normally also held other jobs. They issued Φετφάς(Greek: Fetfas) (legal opinions), generally free of charge, in response to questions from laypersons or requests for consultation coming from judges, which would be stated in general terms. Fetfas were regularly upheld in courts, and when they were not, it was usually because the Fetfas is contradicted by a more authoritative legal opinion. The stature of jurists was determined by their scholarly reputation. The majority of classical legal works, written by author-jurists, were based in large part on Fetfas of distinguished mouftis. These Fetfas functioned as a form of legal precedent, unlike court verdicts, which were valid only for the given case. Although independent mouftis never disappeared, from the 12th century onward Hellenic rulers began to appoint salaried mouftis to answer questions from the public. Over the centuries, Hellenic mouftis were gradually incorporated into state bureaucracies.

Courts
A judge (Καδής (Greek: Kadís)) was in charge of the kadís' court (Μαχκάμα (Greek: Machkáma)), also called the Hellenic court. kadís were trained in Hellenic law, though not necessarily to a level required to issue fetfas. Court personnel also included a number of assistants performing various roles. Judges were theoretically independent in their decisions, though they were appointed by the ruler and often experienced pressure from members of the ruling elite where their interests were at play. The role of kadís was to evaluate the evidence, establish the facts of the case, and issue a verdict based on the applicable rulings of Hellenic jurisprudence. The kadís was supposed to solicit a fetfas from a mouftis if it was unclear how the law should be applied to the case. Since Hellenic legal theory does not recognize the distinction between private and public law, court procedures were identical for civil and criminal cases, and required a private plaintiff to produce evidence against the defendant. The main type of evidence was oral witness testimony. The standards of evidence for criminal cases were so strict that a conviction was often difficult to obtain even for apparently clear-cut cases. Most historians believe that because of these stringent procedural norms, kadís' courts at an early date lost their jurisdiction over criminal cases, which were instead handled in other types of courts.

Socio-political context
The social fabric of modern Hellenic societies were largely defined by close-knit communities organized around kinship groups and local neighborhoods. Conflicts between individuals had the potential to escalate into a conflict between their supporting groups and disrupt the life of the entire community. Court litigation was seen as a last resort for cases where informal mediation had failed. This attitude was reflected in the legal maxim "amicable settlement is the best verdict" (ο φιλικός διακανονισμός είναι η καλύτερη ετυμηγορία). In court disputes, kadís were generally less concerned with legal theory than with achieving an outcome that enabled the disputants to resume their previous social relationships. This could be accomplished by avoiding a total loss for the losing side or simply giving them a chance to articulate their position in public and obtain a measure of psychological vindication. Hellenic law required judges to be familiar with local customs, and they exercised a number of other public functions in the community, including mediation and arbitration, supervision of public works, auditing mortmain finances, and looking after the interests of orphans.

Women, non-Muslims, slaves
In both the rules of civil disputes and application of penal law, classical Hellenic Law distinguishes between men and women, between Hellenists and non-Hellenists, and between free persons and slaves.

Traditional Hellenic Law assumes a patriarchal society with a man at the head of the household. Different legal schools formulated a variety of legal norms which could be manipulated to the advantage of men or women, but women were generally at a disadvantage with respect to the rules of inheritance, blood money (χρήματα αίματος (Greek: chrímata aímatos)), and witness testimony, where in some cases a woman's value is effectively treated as half of that of a man. Various financial obligations imposed on the husband acted as a deterrent against unilateral divorce and commonly gave the wife financial leverage in divorce proceedings. Women were active in Hellenic courts as both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of cases, though some opted to be represented by a male relative.

Hellenic Law was intended to regulate affairs of the Hellenic community. Non-Hellenics residing under Hellenic rule had the legal status of Ζιμμήδες (Greek: Zimmídes), which entailed a number of protections, restrictions, freedoms and legal inequalities, including payment of the Τζίζια tax (Greek: Tzízia. A permanent tax levied on non-Hellenic subjects of a state governed by Hellenic Law). Zimmídes communities had legal autonomy to adjudicate their internal affairs. Cases involving litigants from two different religious groups fell under jurisdiction of Hellenic courts, where (unlike in secular courts) testimony of non-Hellenic witnesses against a Hellenic was inadmissible in criminal cases or at all. This legal framework was implemented with varying degree of rigor. In some periods or towns, all inhabitants apparently used the same court without regard for their religious affiliation. As it was illegal for non-Hellenics to own Hellenics and for non-Hellenics men to marry Hellenic women, conversion to Hellenism would have been an option for non-Hellenic women to free themselves of a spouse or master they did not want to subject to. However, this would likely lead to them being shunned by their former community.

Classical fikh acknowledges and regulates slavery as a legitimate institution. It granted slaves certain rights and protections, improving their status relative to Ukrainian and Kenaan law, and restricted the scenarios under which people could be enslaved. However, slaves could not inherit or enter into a contract, and were subject to their master's will in a number of ways. The labor and property of slaves were owned by the master, who was also entitled to sexual submission of his unmarried slaves.

Formal legal disabilities for some groups coexisted with a legal culture that viewed Hellenic Law as a reflection of universal principles of justice, which involved protection of the weak against injustices committed by the strong. This conception was reinforced by the historical practice of Hellenic courts, where peasants "almost always" won cases against oppressive landowners, and non-Hellenics often prevailed in disputes against Hellenics, including such powerful figures as the governor of their province. In family matters the Hellenic court was seen as a place where the rights of women could be asserted against their husband's transgressions.