The protection of the contractor in public works contracts in the Roman Republic and Early Empire

The use of contractors to build and maintain public works in Rome and the provinces is a common feature of Roman building practice in the Republic and early Principate. It reflects a general tendency in Roman republican administration (also found in other sectors such as tax-farming) to let out state business to private entrepreneurs. While the extant sources frequently mention the use of contractors in public works contracts, most references do not describe the internal working of these contracts or (to use the terminology of Roman private law) the rights and duties of the parties involved. This article examines selected references to public works contracts in legal and literary sources in an attempt to clarify a single aspect of the contractual relationship between the state and an individual. The purpose of this survey is to establish whether the sources allude to any form of legal protection available to a contractor in his dealings with Roman magistrates in the context of public works contracts.     

Lessons from Roman law: EU law in England and Wales after Brexit

ABSTRACT

The experience of Roman law in legal education in England and Wales may serve as a cautionary tale for EU law post-Brexit. Similarly, past debates as to the position of Roman law in the curriculum may also be instructive in the EU law context. After tracing the history of the teaching of Roman law in England and Wales, this article posits first that the factors that appear to have caused the decline of Roman law could apply equally in the context of EU law. Secondly, based on both pragmatic and liberal education arguments that have historically been proffered for the study of Roman law, it advances arguments for the retention of a compulsory stand-alone EU law module in England and Wales after Brexit. To this end, the paper contends that the arguments for the retention of EU law in legal education are more robust than those asserted traditionally in favour of Roman law.     

Thirteenth-Century Origins of Punitive or Exemplary Damages: The Statute of Westminster I (1275) and Roman Law

This article highlights the importance of the Statute of Westminster I in the history of the concept of punitive or exemplary damages in the Anglo-American legal tradition. Maitland had long ago noted that its provisions allowing for double and triple reparation had similarities to duplum and triplum remedies in Roman law. But this tentative hypothesis has not been further explored by scholars. In this article I suggest that the antecedents for the provisions on multiple reparation in Westminster I may lie in the Roman law delicts of furtum or iniuria and their links to actions in duplum and triplum, based on conceptual similarities in the substantive nature of the wrongdoing. This article explores possible avenues for direct Roman law influence as well as indirect means of transmission, namely by non-Roman law sources of concepts analogous to Roman law.     

罗马法的借鉴价值

罗马法作为人类古代社会最发达的法律体系,流传至今仍不减其影响,关键在于它的借鉴价值。它随着罗马国家的形成应运而生,顺应罗马政治、经济的需要不断发展,随着东罗马帝国的灭亡逐渐衰落;但由于特殊的历史需要,罗马法在中世纪又获得“复兴”。其历史源远流长,以至达到了一个非常发达的程度,它以比较成熟的法学理论、深刻的法律思想、科学的法律体系等特色赢得了世人的瞩目。与此同时,罗马法的内容极其充实,它的很多原则和制度被近现代世界上许多国家所借鉴。不言而喻,罗马法对我国法制建设的作用也不容忽视,研究罗马法所得出的结论对我国法制现代化的过程有着深远的借鉴意义。     

Roman concept of mental capacity to make end-of-life decisions

When assessing decisional competence of patients, psychiatrists have to balance the patients' right to personal autonomy, their condition and wishes against principles of medical ethics and professional discretion. This article explores the age-old legal and ethical dilemmas posed by refusal of vital medical treatment by patients and their mental capacity to make end-of-life decisions against the background of philosophical, legal and medical approaches to these issues in the time of the Younger Pliny (c62-c113 CE). Classical Roman discourse regarding mental competency and "voluntary death" formed an important theme of the vast corpus of Greco-Roman writings, which was moulded not only by legal permissibility of suicide but also by philosophical (in modern terms, moral or ethical) considerations. Indeed, the legal and ethical issues of evaluating the acceptability of end of life decisions discussed in the Letters are as pertinent today as they were 2000 years ago. We may gain valuable insights about our own methodologies and frames of reference in this area of the law and psychiatry by examining Classical Roman approaches to evaluating acceptability of death-choices as described in Pliny's Letters and the writings of some of his peers.     

罗马法所有权理论的当代发展

大陆法系所有权制度曾经历过日尔曼模式到罗马法模式的转变,在这一历史变迁中,罗马法极富个人主义精神的绝对所有权对社会的进步及经济的发展起到了积极的推动作用。当今,所有权的权利束正朝向分离、碎裂的趋势发展,形成一物之上的多重所有权。但这是罗马法所有权理论在大陆法系的新发展,而不是由罗马法向日尔曼法的回归。这一发展要求我们对一物一权原则做出重新的诠释。     

古罗马奴隶法律地位还原——“奴隶是会说话的工具”说法之批判

我国学界对罗马奴隶的法律地位认识欠缺,"奴隶是会说话的工具"之滥用为其鲜明体现。通过分析"奴隶是会说话的工具"的起源,指出该论断源于特定的社会经济背景,不具有普遍说服力。在梳理优士丁尼罗马法原始文献后,得出这样的结论:奴隶在人身安全、婚姻家庭方面作为主体受保护,在宗教、特有产、继承、诉讼等方面中表现出一定的主体性,在共和到帝政的转变过程中存在承认其主体性的趋势。     

中世纪前期罗马法在西欧的延续与复兴

古代罗马法随着西罗马帝国的衰亡、蛮族国家的入侵进入到＂黑暗时代＂,并一直延续到12世纪意大利波伦那大学《学术汇纂》发现所引发的＂罗马法复兴运动＂。然而,中世纪前期的历史表明：古典罗马法基于自身的优良性、蛮族国家普遍适用的属人主义原则以及基督教与僧侣们的努力,在蛮族国家顽强地保留了下来,并直接影响了蛮族国家的法律发展,最终在发端于帕维亚的罗马法教育的直接推动下,古典罗马法在欧洲得以复兴。     

The Roman Law Tradition and Its Future Development in China

In Late Qing Dynasty, the Chinese Law Family was disintegrated and the Western Law was introduced into China. Finally, China adopted the European continental Roman law tradition. This paper analyzes the reason for China’s borrowing of such legal system and probes its development and reform in the later years. It also tries to answer the question of what will be the possible impact upon the current Chinese legal system since China now implements the policy of “one country two systems” in order to realize its reunification with Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. In addition, it will make some prediction upon the future development of Chinese legal system. Translated from Tsinghua Law Review, Vol. 2, 1999 (in Chinese)     

虚实隐显之间──罗马法与希腊精神

作为人类文明史上一座永不磨灭的丰碑,罗马法至今仍被人们视为写下来的理性而具有强大的生命力,罗马法的理性精神主要源于希腊文化,斯多葛学派在希腊理性精神与罗马法之间起到了直接的嫁接作用,而深受斯多葛自然法学说影响的罗马法学则成为罗马法与希腊精神相互融合的主渠道。     

The Limits of Legal Pluralism in the Roman Empire

The Roman empire was legally pluralistic. But what exactly does this entail in concrete terms? With the growth in historical studies of legal pluralism in the Roman empire, some significant differences in approach have emerged. This article tests and clarifies some of the limits in the current ‘legal pluralism’ conceptual landscape, focussing on disputes and dispute resolution. It is argued that a clearer distinction should be drawn between ‘normative’ and ‘jurisdictional’ pluralism, though both approaches still raise certain conceptual problems. The place of disputes within the family within this wider institutional picture is then taken as a case study in the final part of the paper, and it is suggested that while family disputes can evidence ‘legal pluralism’ in the ‘norms’ sense, there is less to suggest that there were a multitude of officially sanctioned legal fora available for resolving family disputes. As a result, many went beyond the law. This has wider implications for the study of legal pluralism in antiquity and the problem of integrating alternative dispute resolution (ADR) into the pluralistic picture.     

罗马法与近现代中国民法——历史与未来

近现代中国民法系统移植和继受了大陆法系民法的原则、概念、制度和体系,并借此逐步抛弃其落后的封建成分,在先进的罗马法自然法精神、私权观念和私法精神的指引下不断实现自身的现代化。从某种程度上说,近现代中国民法的形成与发展是建立在对罗马法精神的传承和对罗马私法内容和体系的继受与发展的基础之上的,罗马法是近现代中国民法之源。未来中国民法应在把握与罗马法的源与流关系的基础上有选择的继受,实现对罗马法的理性发展。     

罗马法物权冲突及其解决机制探析

物权的冲突与协调是目前引起理论界普遍关注的一个问题。罗马法在物权的冲突与协调上有一些原初的规定 ,但欠缺系统和抽象。应重新对这些精辟但略显分散的规定进行体系化整理。整理分为两部分 ,一部分对罗马法物权冲突的类型和解决规则进行归纳 ;另一部分是对冲突的解决机制进行整理。通过整理 ,力求发现罗马法对现代物权冲突解决的启发意义。     

论中国《合同法》的罗马法基础——兼论以罗马法作为未来亚洲模范合同法基础的可能性

中日韩三国同属于德国法族,通过德国的中介继受了罗马合同法的8个规定,分别关涉买卖与互易的区分、定金规则、所有权移转时间与价金交付时间挂钩、无偿保管人承担标的物灭失责任的条件、债权人对诈害行为的撤销权、债的履行中的诚信原则、混同导致债消灭、不可抗力导致免责。它们构成三国法律中共同的罗马法基础。在建立东北亚共同体的框架内,产生了制定《亚洲合同法原则》的动议,上述8个规定可作为此等原则的内容。     

“意思”的诞生——基于罗马法教义学的考察

基于罗马法教义学的考察显示,"意思"的发现是罗马合同法发展的重要标志。从早期罗马法到古典罗马法,在社会变迁的推动和法律解释技术发展的双重合力中,意思经历了一个从潜伏到破茧的诞生过程,而在要式口约、正式免除、嫁资口约和要物合同中,意思缺失会或多或少影响合同效力,对意思解释和错误问题的教义学探讨由此肇端。     

法律人格的伦理变革——来自罗马法又回到罗马法

法律人格与伦理的关系状态反映了法律对人的态度。人格属性历经古代罗马法、近代欧陆民法以及现代社会化民法的发展过程,分别表现为"反伦理化、泛伦理化、去伦理化"倾向。人格概念的伦理价值判断功能应该让位于它的法律技术功能。通过承继并改造罗马法人格制度建立现代民事主体制度。     

元首制时代的罗马宪法文本研究——以《韦斯巴芗谕令权法》为依据

《韦斯巴芗谕令权法》是西方世界保留下来的最古的较完整宪法文本,其发现证明了"罗马公法不存在或虽存在但无价值论"的错误。该法被铭刻在两块铜表上,第一块铜表佚失,得到保留的第二块铜表包括8个条文外加一个制裁,它授予韦斯巴芗皇帝外交权、元老院会议主持权、召开元老院会议通过法律权、官吏推荐权、城界外推权、自由裁量权、免受一定法律约束权等权力,还包括溯及力条款和免责规定。该法确定了元首制时代皇帝与元老院的权力分配关系,是长期存在的王权法的一个例证。尽管该法表现了皇权扩张的趋势,但仍维持了皇帝在法律之下的西方宪政传统。     

The Constitution of Violence Through the Language of Law: Legal Hermenutics in Second‐Century Roman Egypt

Bryen, Ari Z. 2013. Violence in Roman Egypt: A Study in Legal Interpretation . Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp. 376. $75.00 cloth; $75.00 eBook. This essay examines the linguistic anthropological themes emergent in Violence in Roman Egypt (2013). Viewing law as a discourse, it explores how language is constitutive of law and is the primary modality of acting upon, and enacting the world(s) that it shapes, giving meaning to the lives of people who engage each other in and through it. Violence petitions in second‐century Egypt are a fundamental mode of sense making and problem solving, calling on legal authorities to interpret claims of iniuria, or legal battery, into a language that they understand and remedy. In doing so, law changes the discourse of violence, specifically, and social life, more broadly.     

古罗马刑法的特征及犯罪分类

古罗马帝国给后世遗留下诸多遗产,完备的罗马法是其中最重要的一项内容。古罗马法中虽然以古罗马民法的精密完备为著称,但古罗马刑法的成就也为世人所瞩目,在西方法律中占有极其重要的地位。古罗马刑法中对犯罪分类之详尽更令后人叹为观止,亦对后世给予了巨大的影响。     

罗马法形式主义衰落的原因探析

早期罗马法极重形式主义,凡为法律行为必依一定形式进行,否则不具法律效力.形式重于实质内容是早期罗马法形式主义的一个重要特征.但随着罗马社会的发展,罗马法的形式主义经历了一个由盛及衰的过程.从罗马社会经济的发展、自然法对罗马法的影响及罗马民族的务实精神等方面对其衰落的原因作了系统的探讨.