The article examines the influence of Roman law and the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina on the formation of criminal law norms in the possessions of the Habsburg monarchy of the eighteenth century. It is emphasized that the study of this issue is of key importance for understanding the evolution of the legal system of the Habsburg monarchy, and is also relevant given the need to understand the origins of modern criminal law, its historical foundations and the legal traditions which shaped it. In accordance with the purpose of the study – to analyze the impact of the reception of legal principles of Roman law and the provisions of Carolina on the formation of criminal law in the possessions of the Habsburg monarchy of the eighteenth century, the author characterizes the main provisions of Roman criminal law and their impact on European legal systems, and examines the content and legal nature of the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina as a model of criminal procedure law of the sixteenth century, the codification acts of the Habsburg monarchy of the eighteenth century, in particular, the Teresian and Josephine Codes, are analyzed. The author conducts a comparative analysis of the criminal law provisions of Roman law, Carolina law and Austrian criminal law, based on which the author identifies the receptive elements of Roman law and Carolina law which had a significant impact on the formation of the Austrian imperial legal system. The study shows that Roman law became a source of legal principles such as legality, proportionality and justice, while Carolina provided a clear classification of crimes and punishments, and defined procedural guarantees. The conclusions of the article contribute to a deeper understanding of the history of criminal law development in Europe and the importance of the Roman legal heritage in the evolution of Austrian law of the Habsburg period.
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