Historical references and general notions regarding judicial error

Error is the wrong idea we have about a thing, or more precisely the belief in the existence of a quality or a fact, relative to a legal fact, quality or fact that does not exist in reality. Error in criminal law has the comprehensive meaning of mistake and ignorance. So, the mistake or unintentional commission of a crime is always the result of ignorance, either in fact or in law. Error should not be confused with ignorance: the first is the wrong knowledge relative to a deed, while ignorance is the lack of knowledge. But in criminal law they are confused, because the error comes from ignorance. In criminal law, factual error constitutes an excuse. Likewise, in barbarian law it was considered an excuse, and in canon law and the law of the Middle Ages, the factual error constituted an excuse only when it did not come from obvious negligence.