Editing Inquisitorial system (section)

==History==
{{see also|Canon law of the Catholic Church|Legal history of the Catholic Church}}
{{more citations needed |section |find=Inquisitorial system|find2=history|discuss=Unsourced history section|date=March 2023}}

Until the development of the Catholic [[Medieval Inquisition]] in the 12th century, the legal systems used in medieval [[Europe]] generally relied on the adversarial system to determine whether someone should be tried and whether a person was guilty or innocent.  Under this system, unless people were caught in the act of committing crimes, they could not be tried until they had been formally accused by their victim, the voluntary accusations of a sufficient number of witnesses, or by an [[inquest]] (an early form of [[grand jury]]) convened specifically for that purpose. A weakness of this system was that, because it relied on the voluntary accusations of witnesses, and because the penalties for making a false accusation were severe, victims and would-be witnesses could be hesitant to make accusations to the court, for fear of implicating themselves. Because of the difficulties in deciding cases, procedures such as [[trial by ordeal]] or [[trial by combat|combat]] were accepted.

Beginning in 1198, [[Pope Innocent III]] issued a series of decretals that reformed the ecclesiastical court system.  Under the new {{lang|la|processus per inquisitionem}} (inquisitional procedure), an ecclesiastical magistrate no longer required a formal accusation to summon and try a defendant. Instead, an [[ecclesiastical court]] could summon and interrogate witnesses of its own initiative. If the (possibly secret) testimony of those witnesses accused a person of a crime, that person could be summoned and tried. In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran]] affirmed the use of the inquisitional system. The council forbade clergy from conducting trials by ordeal or combat.  

As a result, in parts of continental Europe, the ecclesiastical courts operating under the inquisitional procedure became the dominant method by which disputes were adjudicated. In France, the {{lang|fr|[[parlement]]s}} — lay courts — also employed inquisitorial proceedings.<ref>See:
* {{in lang|it}} Antonia Fiori, "{{lang|it|[https://www.academia.edu/30229857/_Quasi_denunciante_fama_note_sull_introduzione_del_processo_tra_rito_accusatorio_e_inquisitorio_in_O._CONDORELLI_F._ROUMY_M._SCHMOECKEL_Hg._Der_Einfluss_der_Kanonistik_auf_die_europ%C3%A4ische_Rechtskultur_Bd._3_Strafrecht_und_Strafproze%C3%9F_K%C3%B6ln_Weimar_Wien_2012_pp._351-367 ''Quasi denunciante fama'' : note sull’introduzione del processo tra rito accusatorio e inquisitorio]|italic=unset}}", in {{lang|de|''Der Einfluss der Kanonistik auf die europäische Rechtskultur'', 3. ''Strafrecht und Strafprozeß''|italic=unset}}, ed. O. Condorelli, Fr. Roumy, M. Schmoeckel; Cologne, Weimar, Vienna, 2012, p. 351–367
* Richard M. Fraher, "IV Lateran's Revolution in Criminal Procedure: the Birth of {{lang|la|inquisitio}}, the End of Ordeals and Innocent III's Vision of Ecclesiastical Politics", in {{lang|la|Studia in honorem eminentissimi cardinalis Alphonsi M. Stickler|italic=yes}}, ed. Rosalius Josephus Castillo Lara. Rome: [[Salesian Pontifical University]] ({{lang|la|Pontificia studiorum universitas salesiana, Facilitas juris canonici, Studia et textus historie juris canonici|italic=no}}, 7), 1992, p. 97–111
* {{in lang|de}} Lotte Kéry, "{{lang|la|Inquisitio-denunciatio-exceptio}}: {{lang|de|Möglichkeiten der Verfahrenseinleitung im Dekretalenrecht|italic=unset}}, {{lang|de|Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung|italic=yes}}, 87, 2001, p. 226–268.
* {{in lang|fr}} {{lang|fr|Julien Théry|italic=no}}, "{{lang|fr|[https://www.academia.edu/499318/_Fama_lopinion_publique_comme_preuve._Aper%C3%A7u_sur_la_r%C3%A9volution_m%C3%A9di%C3%A9vale_de_linquisitoire_XIIe-XIVe_si%C3%A8cles_dans_La_preuve_en_justice_de_lAntiquit%C3%A9_%C3%A0_nos_jours_%C3%A9d._Bruno_Lemesle_Presses_universitaires_de_Rennes_2003_p._119-147 ''fama'' : L’opinion publique comme preuve. Aperçu sur la révolution médiévale de l'inquisitoire (XII<sup>e</sup>–XIV<sup>e</sup> s.)]|italic=unset}}", in {{lang|fr|La preuve en justice de l'Antiquité à nos jours|italic=yes}}, ed. Br. Lemesle. Rennes: {{lang|fr|[[Presses Universitaires de Rennes]]|italic=no}}, 2003, p. 119–147, online].
* {{lang|fr|Julien Théry|italic=no}}, "[https://www.academia.edu/5821488/_Judicial_Inquiry_as_an_Instrument_of_Centralized_Government_The_Papacy_s_Criminal_Proceedings_against_Prelates_in_the_Age_of_Theocracy_mid-12th_to_mid-14th_century_dans_Proceedings_of_the_14th_International_Congress_of_Medieval_Canon_Law_Citt%C3%A0_del_Vaticano_2016_p._875-889 Judicial Inquiry as an Instrument of Centralized Government: The Papacy’s Criminal Proceedings against Prelates in the Age of Theocracy (mid-12th to mid-14th century)]", in ''Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Medieval Canon Law'', Vatican City, 2016, p. 875–889.
* {{in lang|de}} Winfried Trusen, "{{lang|de|Der Inquisitionsprozess : seine historischen Grundlagen und frühen Formen|italic=no}}", {{lang|de|Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung|italic=yes}}, 74, 1988, p. 171–215</ref>

In England, however, King [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] had established separate secular courts during the 1160s.  While the ecclesiastical courts of England, like those on the continent, adopted the inquisitional system, the secular [[common law]] courts continued to operate under the adversarial system.  The adversarial principle that a person could not be tried until formally accused continued to apply for most criminal cases.  In 1215 this principle became enshrined as article 38 of the [[Magna Carta]]: "No bailiff for the future shall, upon his own unsupported complaint, put anyone to his law, without credible witnesses brought for this purposes."

The first territory to wholly adopt the inquisitional system was the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The new [[History of the principle of inquisition in German criminal law|German legal process]] was introduced as part of the {{lang|de|Wormser Reformation}} of 1498 and then the {{lang|la|Constitutio Criminalis Bambergensis}} of 1507.  The adoption of the {{lang|la|[[Constitutio Criminalis Carolina]]}} ({{lang|de|peinliche Gerichtsordnung}} of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]) in 1532 made inquisitional procedures empirical law. It was not until [[Napoleon]] introduced the {{ill|Code of criminal procedure of 1808|fr|Code d'instruction criminelle (France)|v=sup}} on 16 November 1808, that the classical procedures of inquisition were ended in all German territories.

In the development of modern legal institutions that took place in the 19th century, for the most part jurisdictions codified their [[private law]] and [[criminal law]], and reviewed and [[codification (law)|codified]] the rules of [[civil procedure]] as well. It was through this development that the role of an inquisitorial system became enshrined in most European civilian legal systems. However, there exist significant differences of operating methods and procedures between 18th-century {{lang|fr|[[ancien régime]]}} courts and 19th-century courts. In particular, limits on the powers of investigators were typically added, as well as increased rights of the defense.

It is too much of a generalization to say that the civil law is purely inquisitorial and the common law adversarial. The ancient [[Roman law|Roman]] [[custom (law)|custom]] of [[arbitration]] has now been adapted in many common-law jurisdictions to a more inquisitorial form. In some mixed civil law systems, such as those in [[Scots law|Scotland]], [[Quebec law|Quebec]], and [[Law of Louisiana|Louisiana]], while the substantive law is civil in nature and evolution, the procedural codes that have developed over the last few hundred years are based upon the English adversarial system.