We should take a short look at the very
basics of law. As far as we can say, the basic regional unit was the tribe (tuath), and
this seems also to have been the basic legal unit, as Celtic Law distinguishes between the
deorad ("outsider") and the aurrad ("Person of legal standing within the
tuath). Basically, it seems as if the outsider has no legal rights in the tuath and can be
killed, maimed or acted with in any manner without these acts being considered as legal
offences if there exists no treaty between the tuath the outsider came from and the one in
which he is killed, maimed, etc.... Only if a treaty exist between the two tribes in
question such a person can have a legal standing at all.
Rank
The second important basics of Celtic Law was rank. Simply said, the higher your Rank, the
more legal standing you do have. As such, "an offence against a person of higher rank
entails a greater penalty than the same offence against a person of lower rank. Similarly,
the oath of a person of higher rank automatically outweighs that of a person of lower
rank." The measure of a person's status is his honour price or log n-enech (literally
"the price of his face"), which has to be paid for any mayor offence like
murder, satire, serious injury etc. Offences which do not touch the victims honour - like
minor damage to property or animal trespass, incurs lesser fines. A person's capacity to
perform most legal acts is directly linked to this honour-price. He can only make a
contract to the value of his honour-price, he can't be surety for any greater amount, and
his oath is only worth his honour-price if a compurgatory oath is required. I will deal
more detailed with rank in "Social Structures - a short summary".
Kin
Another basic element in the legal system is kinship. I will make a more detailed survey
of kinship in "Social Structures - a short summary", but some words are
necessary here too. Basically, the kin group referred to most often in the law texts is
the derbfine ("true kin"), which consists of all descendents through the male
line from a common great-grandfather. This group has considerable legal rights in over its
individual members. Each kin-group has its own kin-land (called "fintiu"), for
which every legally competent adult male has some responsibility. This land can be sold
only with consent of the kin, and provided that a man has successfully fulfilled his
obligations towards his kin he can annul contracts of other members of the kin if he
thinks they are detrimental to the kin.
On the other hand, the kin is legally responsible and liable for offences committed by its
members - a kinsman can be distrained if the offender cannot fulfill his legal
obligations. Of course, the kin can reclaim all losses due to such distraints from the
original offender, who can be ejected from kin if he fails to satisfy the claims of his
kin - an act by which the offender looses all his legal rights.
If a member of the kin is illegally killed, his or her kinsmen get a share of the eraic
(body-fine), and if the culprit fails to pay the kinsmen are expected to prosecute a
blood-feud against him.
Especially abhorred is the act of slaying a member of ones kin "fingal". A
kin-slayer forfeits his share of the kin-land, but is still liable to pay for offences by
other kin-members.
The head of the kin is known as the agae fine or cenn (sometimes conn) fine. He is chosen
from among the kin (probably by election) on the basis of superior wealth, rank and good
sense, and acts and speaks for his kin at public occasions.
Maternal Kin
Even though kinship is determined by the paternal line primarily, maternal kin also plays
some role. On marriage a woman does not completely sever her connections with her own kin.
The maternal kin is also required to take part in a blood-feud if a child of one of its
daughters is killed and the culprit doesn't pay, gets a part of the eraic of such slain
children and has to intervene if such a child's fosterage is improperly carried out.
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