Montesquieu · 1748
The Spirit of the Laws
- Original title
- De l'esprit des lois
- Language
- French
- Form
- Treatise
- Text
- Full text
- English
- Period translation · Nugent translation, vol. 1
- Source text
- fr.wikisource.org
- Selected
- Ben Breen, 2026-09-29; suggested by Claude research agents, 29 Sep 2026
- Status
- Arguments unverified; quotations chosen by machine, unchecked
Q11JUDGMENT
Should a judge follow a general rule when it produces an unjust result in a particular case?Yes. the judge applies the rule. Says judges should be only the mouth that pronounces the words of the law, inanimate beings who cannot moderate its force or severity.
It is possible that the law, which is clear-sighted in one sense, and blind in another, might in some cases be too severe. But as we have already observed, the national judges are no more than the mouth that pronounces the words of the law, mere passive beings incapable of moderating either its force or rigour. That part therefore of the legislative body, which we have just now observed to be a necessary tribunal on another occasion, is also a necessary tribunal in this; it belongs to its supreme authority to moderate the law in favour of the law itself, by mitigating the sentence.
OCR corrected
Book XI, chapter 6, 'De la constitution d'Angleterre' · Wikisource chapter opened; contains 'la bouche qui prononce les paroles de la loi'.