<p>7:51<i> Said to them: Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and knowing what he is doing?</i>- He is alluding to how the Jews proudly considered that the provision of Roman law to only judge / condemn after giving the accused a hearing was in fact based upon Jewish law. He appeals to their national pride in order to save the Lord's life. However, there is no specific statement in the Law of Moses requiring this principle to be followed. Nicodemus may well be alluding to rabbinic law which required that a death sentence using &quot;judge&quot; in the sense of condemning to death could only be asked for after a man had appeared before the Sanhedrin and been condemned by them.</p>