Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis quam innocentem damnari
“It is better to leave the crime of a guilty person unpunished than to condemn an innocent one.”
Justinian’s Digest 48.19.5
What does “Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis quam innocentem damnari” mean?
Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis quam innocentem damnari translates as “It is better to leave the crime of a guilty person unpunished than to condemn an innocent one.”
Justice must lean toward protecting the innocent, even if some guilty people go free. It is an early statement of the presumption of innocence.
“Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis …” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Satius | better, preferable | comparative adjective (neuter singular, nominative) from satis, “enough”; used in the construction satius est, “it is better” |
| est | is | 3rd person singular present indicative of sum, “I am” |
| impunitum | unpunished | accusative neuter singular of the adjective impunitus, “unpunished”; agrees with facinus |
| relinqui | to be left | present passive infinitive of relinquo, “I leave behind” |
| facinus | the crime, the deed | accusative neuter singular of facinus, “deed, crime”; subject of the infinitive relinqui |
| nocentis | of a guilty person | genitive singular of the participle-noun nocens, “guilty”, from noceo, “I harm”; depends on facinus |
| quam | than | conjunction used after a comparative |
| innocentem | an innocent person | accusative singular of the adjective innocens, “innocent”, used as a noun; subject of the infinitive damnari |
| damnari | to be condemned | present passive infinitive of damno, “I condemn” |
How to pronounce “Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis …”
The differences are in the soft sounds: c in facinus and nocentis is k in the classical system but ch in the church system, and ti in satius sounds like “tsee” in church Latin. Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable in impunitum, relinqui, nocentis, innocentem and damnari.
The story behind it
The sentence says that it is preferable (satius) for a guilty person’s crime to be left unpunished than for an innocent person to be condemned. It is a rule of priorities: if a court must risk one kind of error, it should risk letting a wrongdoer go free.
It is preserved in the Digest of Justinian (48.19.5), the great sixth-century compilation of Roman legal writing. There the jurist Ulpian reports it as a ruling of the emperor Trajan, so it reaches us through a later legal collection rather than as a text by Trajan himself.
The idea lives on in the presumption of innocence and in the common-law principle that it is better for ten guilty people to escape than for one innocent person to suffer. Lawyers and students of criminal procedure still quote the Latin.
How to use “Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis …”
Suits a criminal-law essay, a lecture or talk on due process, a defense lawyer’s office wall, or an inscription for anyone who cares about fair trials. It is a long line, so it works best as a framed print or a caption rather than a short tattoo.
- Latin
- Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis quam innocentem damnari
- English
- It is better to leave the crime of a guilty person unpunished than to condemn an innocent one.
- Source
- Justinian’s Digest 48.19.5
- Era
- Legal Latin
- Theme
- Justice
Common mistakes
- It does not say crime should go unpunished. It says that if error cannot be avoided, wrongly condemning the innocent is the worse outcome.
- It is not a modern slogan. The Latin comes from Roman legal sources, and it is often confused with the later English “ten guilty men” maxim, which is a separate formulation.
- The quote is often credited to Trajan alone, but the Digest passage is Ulpian’s report of Trajan’s ruling.
- Do not change nocentis or innocentem to other genders or numbers without adjusting the whole sentence, since the cases are tied to the construction.
Questions about “Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis …”
What does “Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis quam innocentem damnari” mean?
“It is better to leave the crime of a guilty person unpunished than to condemn an innocent one.” It puts the protection of the innocent above the punishment of every wrongdoer.
Who said “Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis”?
It is found in Justinian’s Digest (48.19.5), where the jurist Ulpian cites it as a ruling of the emperor Trajan. It is a legal principle rather than a literary quotation.
How do you pronounce “Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis quam innocentem damnari”?
In classical pronunciation: SAH-tee-oos est im-poo-NEE-toom reh-LING-kwee FAH-kih-noos noh-KEN-tees kwahm in-noh-KEN-tem dahm-NAH-ree. Church Latin makes c before e or i sound like ch.
Is this quote the same as “innocent until proven guilty”?
Not exactly, but it expresses the same spirit. It is an early statement of why courts should favor the accused when doubt remains.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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