droit d'asile

OBS: Cette institution, qui remonte à la plus haute antiquité, a une origine religieuse, les lieux de culte étant considérés comme des refuges où les criminels échappaient aux poursuites de la puissance temporelle. [...] Cette forme de l'asile ne subsiste plus à l'heure actuelle que dans certains pays, mais elle est toujours prévue dans le droit canon.

CONT: Sanctuary. A sacred or consecrated place such as a temple, church, or mosque. Sanctuaries were formerly recognized as places of refuge for fugitives and criminals. ... From the early 4th century, Christian churches were considered places of sanctuary .... The right of sanctuary continued to be acknowledged all through the Middle Ages. It was based in part on the sanctity of the consecrated church but also on the duty of a Christian priest to show mercy to an offender, to intercede for him, and to persuade him to repentance instead of handing him over for immediate execution. The system ... with the growth of more effective judicial systems came to be regarded as an abuse ... and [was] abolished between 1750 and 1850.