Privilege (legal ethics)

A privilege ( Pl privileges, from Latin privilegium " emergency law, prerogative ") is a privilege that is granted to a single person or a group of persons.

Term

The Latin privilegium is made up of the words lex ( "the law, legislation " ) and Privus ( " individually, separately " ) together. As privileges legal decisions were originally designated in Roman Law, which relate to a single person, not a group, nor the whole of the Roman citizens. Legal systematic terms, it is therefore a single available. The character of the legal measure was initially open. In particular, it was originally irrelevant whether the privilege included a right or obligation. At the time of the Roman Republic were called privilegia rather generally legal decisions of the legislature, which did not constitute a general law ( general application ), but had an exception to the general rule to the content.

It was only in later times formed from the currently effective legal definition out what a privilege referred the privilege to an individual ( or a specific group ) by the legislature for the purposes of a pardon granted. The receiver per se adversely acts thus no longer included in the definition ( although a privilege may well be associated with conditions or subject to conditions ). In this sense the word is in Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis privilegium as a general term for a singular ius ( right of an individual ) used.

Examples of Roman privilegia are about the law to the empire of Pompey or permission of the return of Cicero from exile.

In the 19th and early 20th century, the term was used in industrial law in the sense of patent or license.

In sociology is now and again from a so-called " negative privileges " the speech. This term is used in particular in the context of educational opportunities of individual milieus.

In education are called privileges advantages it enjoys a child in the home that are not necessary for its healthy growth, but which are granted by the parents because the child she wants.

History

Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

The expansion of the concept of privilege to groups or land (real privilege), the heritability of privileges as well as the restriction of the content of any privileges are developments from the period after the fall of the Roman Empire.

In the Middle Ages and the early modern period was set by the exhibition of a privilege ( in the form of a deed) for individuals or groups new law, under which the owner of the privileges gained an advantage over others. The essence of the privilege heard it as opposed to the mandate in the long term created a new legal fact, which could also be inherited. Only in exceptional cases (eg, misconduct or breach of trust of the beneficiary) the privilege has been canceled. There was, however, until well into modern times also repeatedly privileges (eg annual ) required the recurring confirmation.

Privileges could grant those persons the rights or property were allowed to pass freely to subjects. These were primarily the Emperor (or king) and the popes. However, a landlord could favor one of his subjects, by freeing him from the drudgery for example.

Subject of medieval privileges were different things: To include donations to subordinates, the grant of a monopoly, the right to coin money or to keep a coat of arms, exemption from interest and services, the awarding of jurisdictions or even the founding of universities to the privileges. The granting of city status is one of the privileges, because the members of the community were given an entire bundle of rights. Among other things, the town citizens were personally free.

The sum of all privileges that were granted the estates of an entire country over time, formed the basis of the feudal constitutions in the early modern period. They defined the relationship between the country and his princes, by restricting the rights of the sovereign favor of the stands. During the period of absolutism the feudal corporations lost many privileges back to the princes.

The extensive privileges were countless specially assigned. In residential towns, individual entrepreneurs competed for the title of " privileged supplier of the court ." In the printing industry privileges to individual printing units also were granted - a positioning that particular strove large book projects that were associated with high publishing investments. The sovereign who granted the privilege threatened in the case of robbery pressure with punishment. ( In the "normal " case of predatory pressure, it was left to the booksellers, "black sheep" make out with each other and to brand sanctions for infringements with each other. )

19th and 20th centuries

In terms of the equality of all human privileges are looked at more critically. Birgit Rommelspacher defined privilege as an opponent of discrimination: discrimination generating privilege, privilege generating discrimination. In particular privileges that are acquired at birth, are excluded in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany by Article 3, paragraph 3:

Presence

The church law has in Chapter IV of Book I to the present day, the ability to grant a privilege as an act of mercy in favor of certain persons ( c. 76 § 1) and differs based on the validity of the privilege of unlimited valid dispensation.