(Source: University of Edinburgh)
Professor Paul
J. Du Plessis will hold the inaugural lecture at Edinburgh Law School on 10
October 2018. The event is open to everyone, but registration is required.
Speaker: Paul
J. Du Plessis
Professor of
Roman Law, Edinburgh Law School, The University of Edinburgh.
Abstract
As one of the
most sophisticated legal cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, Roman law has
been an enduring source of intellectual influence upon legal scholars across
the ages. Much like the art, architecture, literature, and languages of the
Greco-Roman world, the Romans and their culture feel strangely familiar even in
2018. This sense of familiarity is not the product of historical chance. It
forms part of an evolving narrative concerning the medieval origins of law
teaching in the universities of Northern Italy during the eleventh century.
Since then, as the cornerstone of legal education for more than a millennium,
the study of Roman law has fulfilled many different functions, whether as a
component of the medieval European ius commune, the foundations of natural law
in the early-modern period or a repository of positivist rules in the late
nineteenth century. Moreover, although one might expect such a narrative to be
thoroughly researched and utterly stable after such a length of time, the past
changes frequently as discoveries come to light, and as new interpretations of
the significance of historical events are put forward. Much work remains to be
done, therefore, on the broader historical narrative, the ideologies as well as
the societal forces (economic, social, political and otherwise), that drove the
adoption or rejection of particular Roman legal rules in the past. But the
study of Roman law is not merely an exercise in legal archaeology. Although the
events of the twentieth century have affected the relationship between Roman
law and modern law, history did not end with codification, and Roman law
continues to exert a powerful influence on contemporary legal development. This
lecture aims to assess the scope and function of this influence against the
backdrop of contemporary debates about the nature of Scots law and the role of
history in the development of law more generally.
Date and time
Wednesday 10
October 2018
6:00pm -
7:30pm
Location
Adam Lecture
Theatre, Edinburgh Law School, Old College.
These events are
free and open to everyone, but registration is required.
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