Summa Iniuria: Ein Pitaval der Justizirrtümer
| Author | Hans M. Sutermeister |
|---|---|
| Country | Switzerland |
| Language | German |
| Subject | Miscarriage of justice |
| Genre | non fiction |
|
Publication date
|
1976 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 810 |
| ISBN |
Summa Iniuria: Ein Pitaval der Justizirrtümer (Summa Iniuria: A Pitaval of Miscarriages of Justice) is a collection of causes célèbres by the Swiss author Hans M. Sutermeister. It is considered “one of the most detailed documentations about miscarriages of justice in the German language”. It is inspired by Voltaire′s early activism against French miscarriages of justice of puritan origin, as well as by Arthur Conan Doyle′s criminalistic approaches.
The book proposes a legal reform for Switzerland which has never been realized because of political controversies. The Maria Popescu, Pierre Jaccoud, and Vera Brühne cases are discussed in detail, as Sutermeister was involved in the criminal researches. The George Edalji case serves, among others, to illustrate the issue of faulty expertises. The main part consists of the so–called “Hirschberg test”, based on Max Hirschbergs categories of causes of judicial errors.
The “Hirschberg test” begins with critique against the preliminary inquiries concerning Josef Issels and Bruno Gröning.
The phenomenon of mis-identification are illustrated by the Joseph Lesurques, Billy Armstrong, Adolph Beck, Leopold Hilsner, Menahem Mendel Beilis, Sacco and Vanzetti, Joe Hill, Caryl Chessman, Charles Townsend, James Hanratty, John Dickman, Rubin Carter, Jerome Frank, Will Purvis, Anna Anderson cases, a large list of experiences which led to wrongful court decisions and which serve to illustrate also other items of the “Hirschberg test”.
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