Definition of red-handed

In fraganti is a Latin phrase that was originally related to the legal terminology of the civilization Roman, specifically with the fact that a criminal was observed at the precise moment of the execution of a crime. Thus, when this happened in legal terms, it was said that someone had been seen red-handed, that is, in full criminal action. In this way, what originally had a legal meaning was finally incorporated into everyday language, such that if someone commits an irregular action or a small trap it is said that he has been caught in fraganti.

Connotations of the term

We find ourselves, therefore, with a word from a specific field (the legal world) that adapts to the reality of ordinary language. In any case, the expression "catching someone red-handed" involves several things:

1) there is something that should not be done but has been done,

2) someone has surprised the person acting erratically or by margin of the law,

3) red-handed action is the ultimate proof of normally inappropriate or outright illegal behavior.

Although red-handed is often used in situations related to crimes or prohibited actions, sometimes it is used with an ironic sense and with a lighthearted tone (consider a child who is caught red-handed eating a piece of chocolate).

Flagrant crime is not the same as catching someone red-handed

The term red-handed reminds us that there is a similar concept, flagrante delicto, which is the quality of flagrante delicto and that constitutes the origin of the so-called flagrant crime. Both concepts are similar but not the same. In this sense, it is legally said that a criminal has been caught red-handed to imply that his arrest took place just at the moment he committed the crime. In contrast, flagrante delicto indicates that the criminal action is so obvious that no additional evidence is needed to prove it.

Latin concepts and phrases in current legal language

In the terminology of the right we find concepts and phrases whose origin is found in the Roman Law and that are currently part of the legal vocabulary. First the term Justice comes from iustitia, the idea of jurisprudence is equivalent to Roman jurisprudence and the public Law it is nothing but the Ius publicum. If we think about the legal norms that affect the civil sphere, we find concepts such as patria potestas or affectio maritalis.

Finally, we must remember that the key concepts of law are those that were formed in the Roman law (legal fact, legal business, procedural capacity or actions of the law or legis actio).

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