Roman-Dutch law

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Roman-Dutch law (

ius commune. While Roman-Dutch law was superseded by Napoleonic codal law in the Netherlands proper as early as the beginning of the 19th century, the legal practices and principles of the Roman-Dutch system are still applied actively and passively by the courts in countries that were part of the Dutch colonial empire, or countries which are influenced by former Dutch colonies: Guyana, South Africa (and its neighbours Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Zimbabwe), Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Suriname, and the formerly Indonesian-occupied East Timor. It also heavily influenced Scots law.[1] It also had some minor impact on the laws of the American state of New York,[2] especially in introducing the office of Prosecutor (schout
-fiscaal).

History

fall of the Western Roman Empire preceded the drafting of the Justinianic Code, early Byzantine law was never influential in Western Europe. Also, much of this early law was superseded by later feudal law. Only canon law
successfully retained any substantial amount of Roman law to be influential.

Interest in the doctrines of Byzantine lawyers came when—around the year a.d. 1070—a copy of the

reception, took place in the Holy Roman Empire and the Mediterranean in the 13th-14th centuries, but was much slower to come to northern Europe (e.g., Saxony, Northern France, the Low Countries, Scandinavia
).

In the 15th century, reception in complexu reached the Netherlands while it was associated with the Holy Roman Empire. While Italian lawyers (mos italicus) were the first to contribute to the new Byzantine-based jurisprudence, in the 16th century, French humanistic doctrinal scholars (mos gallicus) were most influential. In the 17th and 18th century, it was the Dutch who had the greatest influence. Members of the Hollandse Elegante School (“school of elegant jurisprudence”; 1500–1800) included

Dutch Ceylon.[3]
: 156–157 

In the Netherlands, Roman-Dutch law abruptly ended when, in 1809, the Dutch puppet state—the Kingdom of Holland—adopted the French Napoleonic Code, a different system but nonetheless a branch of civil law. Yet, the English respected the existing Roman Dutch law in at that time Dutch colonies that became English, such as Guyana, Ceylon and the Cape Colony. As a result, Roman-Dutch law has managed to survive, usually in a hybrid form mixed with English law, otherwise known as “Anglo-Dutch law”.

Today

The influence nevertheless exists in the former Dutch-ruled areas in South America and heavily influenced former Dutch colonies like South Africa, Guyana and to a lesser extent Sri Lanka. The Roman Dutch law was not preserved in Dutch colonies which were not taken over by the English. Suriname adopted the Suriname Civil Code (Surinaams Burgerlijk Wetboek) in 1869. The Suriname Civil Code is the same as the Old Dutch Civil Code (Oud Burgerlijk Wetboek) of 1838. Suriname achieved its independence from the Netherlands in 1975. It has a democratically-elected President and Parliament, and an independent judiciary. Its legal system is based on the Suriname Civil Code and its official language is Dutch. On the other hand, in Guyana, the Roman-Dutch legal principles are still influential in the landlaw, for example the terms movable and immovable objects as opposed to personal and real property. This despite the enforcement of Civil Law of Guyana Ordinance in 1917 that favors the English style Common law system.[4]

Law reform in former Dutch colonies

The Netherlands participated in international seminars and training programmes organised by international partner organisations, ranging from a two-day seminar to a two-week programme for different legal professionals around the world. Programmes have been developed for Suriname, Aruba, Sint Maarten and Indonesia.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ John W. Cairns, “Importing our Lawyers from Holland: Netherlands Influences on Scots Law and Lawyers in the Eighteenth Century”, in Scotland and the Low Countries, 1124–1994, ed. G. G. Simpson (East Linton: Tuckwell, 1996), 136; reprinted in Law, Lawyers, and Humanism: Selected Essays on the History of Scots Law, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015).
  2. ^ Bielinski, Stefan (April 1979). "The Schout In Rensselaerswijck: Conflict Of Interests". Colonial Albany Social History Project. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  3. ^ Smits, J.M. (2002). The Making of European Private Law: Towards a Ius Commune Europaeum As a Mixed Legal System. Intersentia.
  4. ISBN 978-90-5095-191-3
    .

References

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roman-Dutch_law&oldid=1089950223"