Inheritance

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Jakab
Keyword(s):  
Roman Law ◽  
Legal Interpretation ◽  
Legal Standing ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Legal Thinking ◽  
The Law ◽  
To Come ◽  
Famous Trials ◽  
Epigraphic Evidence ◽  
Law Of Succession

This chapter surveys some of the most important aspects of the law of both testate and intestate inheritance in the period under discussion. It argues that the Roman law of succession can only really be understood within the context of Roman society, the networks of association and kinship and the complex social bonds that operated within the more privileged classes for whom inheritance was an important aspect of their social legacy and the legal standing of their family in generations to come. Ancient literary sources, reports of famous trials, sophisticated argumentations in the works of the jurists and epigraphic evidence enable different approaches to a better understanding of legal thinking and legal interpretation. Since succession was forbidden between Romans and peregrines, the law of inheritance was a special Roman matter, an important part of identity and a tool of integration.

Munificence andMunicipia: Bequests to Towns in Classical Roman Law

1985 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 105-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Social Background ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Law ◽  
Epigraphic Evidence ◽  
Law Of Succession ◽  
The Town

Extensive epigraphic evidence, juristic discussion, and mention in the letters of Pliny combine to show that testamentary munificence during the principate was a phenomenon of both social and economic importance. Beyond a few introductory remarks, however, this paper is not concerned with the social background and functions of philanthropy. Rather, how was munificence regulated? On what conditions for the use of their bequests would benefactors insist? And on what terms would towns accept them? These questions raise a whole complex of further issues such as the ability of benefactors (or their descendants) to enforce the conditions of an endowment, and the extent to which variation of the object of the endowment by the town might be possible. Previous discussions of towns and their capacities in relation to the law of succession have been concerned largely, if not exclusively, with issues of juristic personality. While some understanding of those issues is essential for any useful discussion, they are left aside here so far as possible.

Quintilian and the Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 258-277
Author(s):  
Olga Tellegen-Couperus
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Legal Procedure ◽  
Legal Expert ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Of Succession ◽  
The Relationship

How did Quintilian regard the relationship between rhetoric and law? It is only in the last book of his Institutio oratoria that Quintilian deals with this question. In 12.3 he states that the well-educated orator must have a broad knowledge of the law so that he will not be dependent on information from a legal expert. In the course of the book, Quintilian shows that he himself was well acquainted with Roman law for he often explains rhetorical technique by giving legal examples, and these examples deal with a wide variety of topics and refer to a wide variety of sources. The topics include criminal law and private law, particularly the law of succession, and legal procedure. The sources range from speeches by Cicero to fictitious laws and cases. Quintilian regarded rhetoric as superior to law but he will have agreed with Cicero that rhetoric and law were partners in dignity.

Ex iure manum conserere: Symbolic violence in early Roman property disputes

2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 245-260
Author(s):  
Johannes Platschek
Keyword(s):  
Symbolic Violence ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Judicial Decision ◽  
Technical Term ◽  
The Law ◽  
To Come ◽  
Old Roman

AbstractThe technical term ex iure manum conserere known from the formulas of the old Roman procedure concerning ownership (legis actio sacramento in rem) means – exactly as in the words' common use – 'to come to blows according to the law'. It signifies an act of mutual violence regarding the thing in dispute for the purpose to prepare a trial. The judicial decision about who was entitled to use force is indirectly an acknowledgment of ownership. The terminology is in line with other institutes of Roman law, and there are parallels in Greek law. In contrast, Gellius interprets ex iure in opposition to in iure and therefore as 'out of court'. He explains manum conserere with reference to the procedure as it had already developed, viz. 'to seize the object jointly and claim it with the prescribed wording'. But his reconstruction is neither consistent nor supported by any other evidence.

law, Roman, institutional scheme of

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Fortunat Stagl
Keyword(s):  
Family Law ◽  
Civil Procedure ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Property Law ◽  
Part Family ◽  
General Part ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Of Succession

The institutional scheme of Roman law was developed primarily by Gaius on the basis of a preceding tradition of law manuals. The scheme consists of dividing the law into a General Part, Family Law, Property Law, Law of Succession, Law of Obligations, and Civil Procedure. This scheme is apparent not only in Gaius’s Institutes but also in the whole of his didactic scheme, which can be discerned from descriptions of the curriculum in his time. Gaius’s larger didactic scheme is indebted to contemporary philosophical, rhetorical, and didactic currents, which made it possible for him to organise the law of Rome in such a solid and plausible way that the emperor Justinian adopted this scheme for his compilation, comprising the Institutes, the Digest, and the Codex.

A Casebook on the Roman Law of Contracts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce W. Frier
Keyword(s):  
Roman Law ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Legal Thinking ◽  
The Law ◽  
Unjustified Enrichment ◽  
Digest Of Justinian

This Casebook explores the writings of Roman lawyers on the law of contracts, a rich and hugely influential area of Roman private law. The 235 “Cases” are actual texts deriving, for the most part, from the Digest of Justinian (535 ce), but written hundreds of years earlier during the Classical era of Roman law. These Cases give a fairly complete view of the concepts and methods used to create rules and judge contract cases in Roman courts. The Casebook concentrates especially on two central Roman contracts, stipulation and sale; but all other contracts and contract-related issues are discussed, as well as Roman legal thinking on unjustified enrichment.

Compulsory Portion in France

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-107
Author(s):  
Cécile Pérès
Keyword(s):  
Civil Code ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
French Law ◽  
Historical Tradition ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Of Succession

This chapter deals with the réserve héréditaire in the French law of succession. In the presence of descendants or, failing that, a surviving spouse, French law limits the deceased’s freedom to dispose of his or her property by will or gifts. A person’s estate is notionally divided into two parts: the quotité disponible, which he or she may freely dispose of, and the réserve héréditaire, which the law transfers to certain designated heirs. The réserve héréditaire of the French Civil code is the fruit of a long historical tradition stemming from both Roman law and customary law. It has constantly adapted to the evolution of society. That evolution continues today. The Act of 23 June 2006 had made the réserve héréditaire evolve in a more liberal direction. However, the foundations of the réserve héréditaire – particularly with regard to descendants – remain solid and unchallenged.

scholarly journals Jurisdiction without conflict? Remarks on non-adverse proceedings in Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Silvestri
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Civil Procedure ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Legal Interpretation ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
Default Rules ◽  
Near Future

The subject. This essay describes the procedural treatment of non-contentious matters inItaly. After a brief historical recount on the evolution of the concept of ‘non-contentiousjurisdiction’, from Roman law to the law in force, the chapter emphasizes the extreme varietyof non-adverse proceedings governed by the Code of civil procedure and special statutesas well.The purpose of the article is to understand the ‘default rules’ of non-adverse proceedings(meaning the rules applicable insofar as the law does not ordain otherwise) provided by theCode of civil procedure. These rules outline a procedure in chambers that is simpler andless time-consuming than the ordinary one: for these reasons, the procedure in chambershas been increasingly adopted for the judicial treatment of a few contentious matters, withmixed results.Methodology. The methodological basis for the study: general scientific methods (analysis,synthesis, comparison, description); private and academic (comparative legal, interpretation,formal-legal).Results. It is difficult to foresee whether in the near future more attention will be devotedby Italian legislators to non-contentious jurisdiction so as to lay down rules that are uniformand consistent. In recent decades, Italian civil procedure has been re-written again andagain in the attempt to solve the most serious and enduring problem of the justice system,namely, the excessive length of proceedings.Conclusions. As far as non-contentious matters, in light of the notorious overload of Italiancourts the author believes that they could be handles more efficiently by administrativeauthorities.

Roman law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.B.H. Birks
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Legal Thought ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law ◽  
Normative Order ◽  
To Come ◽  
Law Library

Law was Rome’s greatest gift to the intellect of modern Europe. Even today the Roman law library, and the achievements of the jurists who built it up, live on in the law of the Continental jurisdictions and of other countries farther afield. It is true that over the past two centuries codification has largely interrupted the long tradition of direct recourse to the Roman materials, but the concepts applied in civilian jurisdictions and the categories of legal thought which they use are still in large measure those of the Roman jurists. In England, perhaps for no better reason than that from the late thirteenth century the judges of the King’s Bench and Common Pleas happened to come from a background which cut them off from the clerical education which had given their predecessors access to the Roman library, there was no reception of Roman law. Post-Norman England thus became the second Western society to set about building up a mature law library from scratch. The common law (being the law common to the whole realm of England) and the civil law (being the ius civile, the law pertaining to the civis, the citizen, initially of course the Roman citizen) thus became the two principal families within the Western legal tradition. It is wrong, however, to suppose that the development of the common law was constantly isolated. There have on the contrary been important points of contact at almost all periods. One result is that the categories of English legal thought are not in fact dissimilar to those of the jurisdictions of continental Europe. The study of Roman law has contributed immeasurably to the idea of a rational normative order, an idea fundamental to legal philosophy as indeed to all practical philosophy.

Customary Mechanisms of Family Protection

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-77
Author(s):  
Thomas Rüfner
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
The Law ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Law Of Succession ◽  
Close Family

Even before Roman law became a dominant factor in the development of the law, the power to dispose of one’s property by last will or testament was (re-) introduced into the law of succession in many areas of Europe. Customary law restricted the freedom of testamentary disposition to certain categories of property or to a certain share of the estate. Sometimes, dispositions were only possible with the consent of close family members. In the early-modern period, the customary rules restricting testamentary freedom were amalgamated with the complicated Roman system of family protection. By way of example, this chapter examines the development in the pays de droit coutumier of northern France, and in those parts of Central Europe which were influenced by the law of the Sachsenspiegel. In both areas, the Roman rule which required testators to leave a certain amount (the portio legitima) to close relatives was introduced during the sixteenth century while the customary restrictions were loosened. The provisions of the French Civil Code of 1804 and the Prussian General Land Law of 1794 mark the respective end-points of the developments considered. Codified French law, in keeping with the tradition of the Coutumes, restricted testamentary disposition to a certain share of the estate and reserved the remaining share for close family members. Prussian law contained a simplified version of the Roman portio legitima. Both codes betrayed a sceptical attitude towards freedom of testation, which was characteristic of the teachings of many natural lawyers.

scholarly journals Zimmermann, Reinhard, Recht und Religion in der europäischen Rechtstradition II: Römisches Recht und Römische Kirche: Ein rechtshistorischer Streifzug

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-179
Author(s):  
Reinhard Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Legal History ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Of Succession ◽  
Public Lecture

Abstract Roman Law and Roman Church. A Foray in the Field of Legal History. This is the slightly amended text of a public lecture delivered at the invitation of the organizers of the 42nd German Legal History Conference in September 2018 in Trier. After briefly sketching the enormous range of the discipline of legal history, the lecture focuses on the law of contract and the law of succession; and it seeks to demonstrate the importance of Rome on the development of European private law: both the Rome of pagan antiquity and of the Christian Church.

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