As part of a wider project looking at the ecclesiastical and monastic handling of criminal offences between the reigns of Constantine and Justinian (4th-6th centuries), the issue raised here concerns the jurisdiction of monastic authorities when criminal offences were committed, and the procedures used. Although Roman law did not recognise any jurisdiction on the part of the monastic authorities with regard to criminal matters, when an offence was committed by a monk (or a postulant), the monastic authorities nevertheless exercised de facto jurisdiction. The necessary condition for this practice outside the law was that the offending behaviour should not be reported to the state authorities, which allowed for the internal management of crimes when they were committed within the framework of monastic life.