JEWISH CRIMINAL LAW AND LEGAL PROCEDURE.

The article focuses on the Jewish criminal law and legal procedure. It is significant for the close relationship that exists between Jewish ethics and Jewish law that both emerge from the same source--the religious code. Although, both are primary sources for the knowledge of Jewish law, it must be borne in mind that it was the task of the Talmud to interpret God's word as proclaimed in the Bible. The dominant idea in Biblical law was the lex talionis. Jewish law proscribed cruelty toward animals. The Talmud threatened the offender with flogging. The Jewish criminal code did not tolerate maiming the offender, tearing out his limbs or eyes, or pinching with hot tweezers and similar forms of torture as were prevalent in the Middle Ages. There were four types of capital punishment--stoning, burning, decapitation and strangling. Deliberate murder as well as the transgression of certain religious laws brought the death penalty upon the offender. A rather sharp distinction was drawn between theft and robbery.