| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
At which time in the history of the polity did it become present?
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
At which time in the history of the polity did it become present?
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
At which time in the history of the polity did it become present?
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) |
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Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II.
[1]
absent "codified law did not exist in Sasanian Iran" the Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions "cannot be considered a legal code. It is one of the collections that were compiled as manuals for the administration of justice." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] i.e. absent before Khurau I. present "In the specialist literature, the Madigan has become known as the ’Sasanian Legal Code’. ... It is possible to reconstitute practically the entire system of Iranian law on the basis of the mass of information contained in the Code." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] According to the Dankard, a judge had to consider the Avesta, its Pahlavi translation and commentaries, and "the consesus of the Righteous (ham-dadestanith i wehan)". [3] The law was based on religion, specifically "the Holy Scripture of the Avesta and its translation and commentaries in Pahlavi". [3] Court cases judged on Zoroastrian law, unless both parties from another religion. [4] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II c.531 CE. [1] Link between Iranian law and Zoroastrian religion shown in Madigan-i hazar dadestan [Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions] c620 CE, author "was a contemporary of Khusrau II." [2] [1]: (Daryaee 2009, 27-37) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. [2]: (Khromov 1996, 105) Tafazzoli, A. and Khromov, A. L. Sasanian Iran: Intellectual Life. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.82-105. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf [3]: (Macuch 2012) Macuch, Maria. 2016. Judicial and Legal Systems iii. Sasanian Legal System. Vol. XV. Fasc. 2. pp. 181-196. Site accessed: 21 September 2016: www.iranicaonline.org/articles/judicial-and-legal-systems-iii-sasanian-legal-system [4]: (Daryaee 2009, 2-20) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. |
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Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II.
[1]
absent "codified law did not exist in Sasanian Iran" the Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions "cannot be considered a legal code. It is one of the collections that were compiled as manuals for the administration of justice." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] i.e. absent before Khurau I. present "In the specialist literature, the Madigan has become known as the ’Sasanian Legal Code’. ... It is possible to reconstitute practically the entire system of Iranian law on the basis of the mass of information contained in the Code." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] According to the Dankard, a judge had to consider the Avesta, its Pahlavi translation and commentaries, and "the consesus of the Righteous (ham-dadestanith i wehan)". [3] The law was based on religion, specifically "the Holy Scripture of the Avesta and its translation and commentaries in Pahlavi". [3] Court cases judged on Zoroastrian law, unless both parties from another religion. [4] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II c.531 CE. [1] Link between Iranian law and Zoroastrian religion shown in Madigan-i hazar dadestan [Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions] c620 CE, author "was a contemporary of Khusrau II." [2] [1]: (Daryaee 2009, 27-37) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. [2]: (Khromov 1996, 105) Tafazzoli, A. and Khromov, A. L. Sasanian Iran: Intellectual Life. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.82-105. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf [3]: (Macuch 2012) Macuch, Maria. 2016. Judicial and Legal Systems iii. Sasanian Legal System. Vol. XV. Fasc. 2. pp. 181-196. Site accessed: 21 September 2016: www.iranicaonline.org/articles/judicial-and-legal-systems-iii-sasanian-legal-system [4]: (Daryaee 2009, 2-20) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. |
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Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II.
[1]
absent "codified law did not exist in Sasanian Iran" the Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions "cannot be considered a legal code. It is one of the collections that were compiled as manuals for the administration of justice." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] i.e. absent before Khurau I. present "In the specialist literature, the Madigan has become known as the ’Sasanian Legal Code’. ... It is possible to reconstitute practically the entire system of Iranian law on the basis of the mass of information contained in the Code." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] According to the Dankard, a judge had to consider the Avesta, its Pahlavi translation and commentaries, and "the consesus of the Righteous (ham-dadestanith i wehan)". [3] The law was based on religion, specifically "the Holy Scripture of the Avesta and its translation and commentaries in Pahlavi". [3] Court cases judged on Zoroastrian law, unless both parties from another religion. [4] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II c.531 CE. [1] Link between Iranian law and Zoroastrian religion shown in Madigan-i hazar dadestan [Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions] c620 CE, author "was a contemporary of Khusrau II." [2] [1]: (Daryaee 2009, 27-37) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. [2]: (Khromov 1996, 105) Tafazzoli, A. and Khromov, A. L. Sasanian Iran: Intellectual Life. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.82-105. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf [3]: (Macuch 2012) Macuch, Maria. 2016. Judicial and Legal Systems iii. Sasanian Legal System. Vol. XV. Fasc. 2. pp. 181-196. Site accessed: 21 September 2016: www.iranicaonline.org/articles/judicial-and-legal-systems-iii-sasanian-legal-system [4]: (Daryaee 2009, 2-20) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. |
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Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II.
[1]
absent "codified law did not exist in Sasanian Iran" the Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions "cannot be considered a legal code. It is one of the collections that were compiled as manuals for the administration of justice." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] i.e. absent before Khurau I. present "In the specialist literature, the Madigan has become known as the ’Sasanian Legal Code’. ... It is possible to reconstitute practically the entire system of Iranian law on the basis of the mass of information contained in the Code." [2] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [1] According to the Dankard, a judge had to consider the Avesta, its Pahlavi translation and commentaries, and "the consesus of the Righteous (ham-dadestanith i wehan)". [3] The law was based on religion, specifically "the Holy Scripture of the Avesta and its translation and commentaries in Pahlavi". [3] Court cases judged on Zoroastrian law, unless both parties from another religion. [4] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II c.531 CE. [1] Link between Iranian law and Zoroastrian religion shown in Madigan-i hazar dadestan [Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions] c620 CE, author "was a contemporary of Khusrau II." [2] [1]: (Daryaee 2009, 27-37) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. [2]: (Khromov 1996, 105) Tafazzoli, A. and Khromov, A. L. Sasanian Iran: Intellectual Life. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.82-105. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf [3]: (Macuch 2012) Macuch, Maria. 2016. Judicial and Legal Systems iii. Sasanian Legal System. Vol. XV. Fasc. 2. pp. 181-196. Site accessed: 21 September 2016: www.iranicaonline.org/articles/judicial-and-legal-systems-iii-sasanian-legal-system [4]: (Daryaee 2009, 2-20) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. |
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Law at this stage was dominated by tribal custom rather than religious authorities.
[1]
It was Mehmet II who "promulgated the first systematic legal codes dealing with the organization of the state and the obligations of subjects."
[2]
But there is the huge corpus of islamic law integrated into the Ottoman realm during this period. [3] Coded switchover at time capital moved to Bursa. [1]: (Shaw 1976) [2]: (Lapidus 2012, 439) [3]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences. |
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Law at this stage was dominated by tribal custom rather than religious authorities.
[1]
It was Mehmet II who "promulgated the first systematic legal codes dealing with the organization of the state and the obligations of subjects."
[2]
But there is the huge corpus of islamic law integrated into the Ottoman realm during this period. [3] Coded switchover at time capital moved to Bursa. [1]: (Shaw 1976) [2]: (Lapidus 2012, 439) [3]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences. |
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Salic law. Reestablished during 100 Years War (approximate date). DH: needs ref.
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"Records of Law: The basic records of the law of this period were the Ancient Tsaadjin Bichik, the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640, the Great Code of the Seven Khoshuns, and the Khalkha-Djirom of 1709. Of these records, the Mongot-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were the most important, being, for a time, the effective code in both Northern and Western Mongolia (Khalkha and Djungaria) After the disintegration of the alliance of the "Forty and Four," this code remained effective in Djungaria until the promulgation of the Chinese Code or Regulations of 1789 and among the Rusian Kalmucks until 1917 In Northern Mongolia the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were replaced by the Great Code of the Seven Hoshuns and later by the Khalkha-Djirom, which also retained its effectiveness until 1789. The Khalkha-Djirom also continued to function among the herdsmen Shabinars of the Urga Gegen until superseded in 1925."
[1]
Late 16th century: “Tümen Jasaghtu Khan tried to unify the country administratively and so included in his government not only Abtai, Altan and Khutughtai Sechen, but also other influential nobles from all the tümens and from the Oirat regions. He compiled a new code that was supposed to be based on Chinggis Khan’s Great Ya ̄sa ̄ or Jasaq (see Volume IV, Part One). Subsequently, Altan Khan, Abtai Khan and, most likely, several others followed his example and adopted their own laws and codes in their respective tümens. But only some of these have been preserved, whether wholly or partially. They were written in the old Mongol script, which had been borrowed from the Uighur, and adopted under Chinggis Khan as the official script of the Mongols. » [2] [1]: (Riasananovsky 1948: 170) Riasanovsky, V. A. 1948. Mongol Law—A Concise Historical Survey. Wash. L. Rev. & St. B.J. 166: 160-178. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9JCNB66X/library [2]: (Ishjamts 2003, 214) |
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"Records of Law: The basic records of the law of this period were the Ancient Tsaadjin Bichik, the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640, the Great Code of the Seven Khoshuns, and the Khalkha-Djirom of 1709. Of these records, the Mongot-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were the most important, being, for a time, the effective code in both Northern and Western Mongolia (Khalkha and Djungaria) After the disintegration of the alliance of the "Forty and Four," this code remained effective in Djungaria until the promulgation of the Chinese Code or Regulations of 1789 and among the Rusian Kalmucks until 1917 In Northern Mongolia the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were replaced by the Great Code of the Seven Hoshuns and later by the Khalkha-Djirom, which also retained its effectiveness until 1789. The Khalkha-Djirom also continued to function among the herdsmen Shabinars of the Urga Gegen until superseded in 1925."
[1]
Late 16th century: “Tümen Jasaghtu Khan tried to unify the country administratively and so included in his government not only Abtai, Altan and Khutughtai Sechen, but also other influential nobles from all the tümens and from the Oirat regions. He compiled a new code that was supposed to be based on Chinggis Khan’s Great Ya ̄sa ̄ or Jasaq (see Volume IV, Part One). Subsequently, Altan Khan, Abtai Khan and, most likely, several others followed his example and adopted their own laws and codes in their respective tümens. But only some of these have been preserved, whether wholly or partially. They were written in the old Mongol script, which had been borrowed from the Uighur, and adopted under Chinggis Khan as the official script of the Mongols. » [2] [1]: (Riasananovsky 1948: 170) Riasanovsky, V. A. 1948. Mongol Law—A Concise Historical Survey. Wash. L. Rev. & St. B.J. 166: 160-178. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9JCNB66X/library [2]: (Ishjamts 2003, 214) |
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During the Russian period, some Russian legal concepts were adopted by the Sakha: ’N. P. Pripuzov gathered his material among the Yakuts living in the Yakutsk district, i. e., in the midst of that part of the Yakut tribe among whom we may rightly expect to encounter some traces of the action of Russian customary and legislative norms upon the customary law of the Yakuts. All the more interest attaches to the norms of the Yakut customary law noted by the compiler, which, despite the long association of the Yakuts with the Russians, have survived as a valuable vestige of the ancient familial-clan foundations. But no less interest attaches to certain juridical customs, communicated by the compiler, which have been worked out by the Yakuts under the obvious influence of the Russians; the structure of Yakut life is changing its aspect; the new conditions of life which are coming to birth demand new norms for their satisfaction. The latter are sometimes borrowed from Russian neighbors, come into contradiction with the bases of the ancient life and undergo certain changes under the influence of the archaic views on legal relations.’
[1]
But Sakha trials were based on prior agreements between the contending parties rather than codified law: ’Agreements and contracts, both written and oral, are taken as a basis for all trials and settlements; therefore, if there is no quarrel about the contents of an agreement, the decision is quick, but if anyone refuses to abide by an agreement, and it was oral, his opponent may prove it with witnesses, and, if there are no witnesses, the quarrel is decided by an oath.’
[2]
’“As a nation they are unsocial, litigious, and vindictive. An injury received by one of them is very rarely forgotten, and, if he cannot revenge it himself, he will leave the feud to his son. Their passion for litigation is excessive: they will frequently undertake difficult and expensive journeys, in a cause where perhaps the matter in dispute is not of the value of a rouble. Their unsocial dispo-sition, which leads them to prefer settling by single families at a distance from each other, is strikingly contrasted with the cheerful and ready hospitality which they show to strangers. They very seldom settle in communities, and it is only along the route from Jakuzk to the Aldan, where the country is more populous, that such settlements are now and then to be met with; but beyond the Werchojansk chain, the solitary jurti are often hundreds of wersts apart, so that the nearest neighbours may not see each other for years. Such distances are far greater than can be required on account of pasture, and are rather to be ascribed to the disposition which leads them to seek solitude, and to avoid all social intercourse.”’
[3]
Criminal cases were transferred to courts applying Russian law only after 1889: ’Nevertheless until very r ecently and even criminal cases such as beatings, personal injury, and thefts, even for a considerable amount, as long as a house was not broken into, were judged by the clan administration. Only from the year 1889, when an order came out to proceed against the trible authorities if they did not communicate such matters, have thefts begun to be referred to the Russian courts and judged according to Russian laws. For theft the Yakut usually punished wealthy people by a fine which was two or three times the value of the stolen article, depending on the circumstances. For beatings and personal injuries they sentenced the guilty party to support the injured party during his disablement or to pay him a lump sum. Now the guilty are put in prison, and to the great horror of their neighbors they usually leave out and out scoundrels. Such crimes as the violation of women, the breaking of agreements, fraud, and forgery were apparently unknown to the Yakut and went unpunished. But the violation of the wedding agreement was provided for by the kalym. At the present time most of the cases and statements of claim which come before the clan administrations concern the violation of boundary lines and various disputed lands.’
[4]
Clerical courts occasionally prosecuted polygamy prior to that date: ’Such polygamy, which is tolerated for the above reasons, and which has existed since ancient times and does not do any harm, had not become bad in the judgement of the Yakut, and no regulations for the abolition of this custom have been set up by the Yakut. However, since the Yakut adopted the Christian faith, and as they have become enlightened by strict surveillance and sometimes by indulgent reprimands from the eparchial priests, it has been gradually dying out, but nevertheless denunciations on this subject are made concerning people who have lawfully wedded wives but keep the others, and people who had several wives before conversion and married one of them in church without leaving the others, who were left at home with their children; in the case of such a denunciation the local authorities, on the grounds of the repugnance of the Christian religion for this custom, pressed formal charges, and the guilty parties were handed over to the clerical court as fornicators, and the cases were decided according to general state laws, which constituted and still constitute and extreme burden for the Yakut.’
[5]
Sieroszewski’s material on punishment seems to refer to Yakut assemblies rather than Russian courts: ’In 1867, according to official data, 1870 cases were judged in the upravas in the vicinity of Yakutsk: out of the total, 1855 concerned land disputes; in the Vilyuysk Okrug, out of 3786 cases, more than half had to do with land. Besides levying fines the Yakut also punish a guilty party by reprimanding him publicly, before the assembly, by sending him on some job, or putting him into solitary confinement. The latter is apparently a Russian innovation. Punishment with birch-rods was quite unknown to the Yakut in the past. Even now they have recourse to this very rarely and with great distaste. In the north they did not even know what this was like, and once, in the Kolymsk Ulus, when the assembly did not known what to do with one of its disobedient members and decided, on the advice of some Yakut who had come from the south, to flog him, they turned to me with questions: where should we beat him?, and do we have to lay him down and undress him or is that not permitted? (Kolymsk Ulus, Undzha, 1883). Usually the influence of the commune is quite sufficient to exert necessary compulsion. In the south, where the ties of the commune have weakened, we find disobedient people whose cattle are taken away as a punishment, or who are forced to obey. Many decisions of the clan assemblies astonished me by their strangeness, but once I looked closer into their life and made thorough inquiries into their motives I always found at the bottom a deep respect for the individual and a striving toward equality. Naturally I say nothing about those decisions which are demonstrably incorrect, and not in accord with custom and the conscience of the people, but which they have been forced to make because of the economic pressure of unscrupulous rich people or because of administrative arbitrariness.’
[6]
[1]: Kharuzin, Aleksai Nikolaevich 1898. “Juridicial Customs Of The Yakut”, 37 [2]: Samokvasov, D. I. A. 1876. “Collection Of Customary Law Of The Siberian Natives", 28 [3]: Wrangel, baron, Ferdinand Petrovich, and Edward Sabine Sir 1842. “Narrative Of An Expedition To The Polar Sea, In The Years 1820, 1821, 1822, & 1823”, 39 [4]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 798 [5]: Samokvasov, D. I. A. 1876. “Collection Of Customary Law Of The Siberian Natives”, 14 [6]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 799 |
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In practice, the law of 1592, as amended in 1594, seems to have been a dead letter for much of the seventeenth century, during which the only curtailment of social mobility may have been the decline of wealth within Spanish society. In any case, a fresh attempt was made to stabilise the social hierarchy with the advent of the new Bourbon dynasty in 1703.”(Casey 2002: 143) Casey, James. 2002. Early Modern Spain: A Social History. New York: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2SNTRSWT “Moreover, the new viceroy was to ‘rule and govern’ his viceroyalty ‘in the same manner in which those [viceroys] of Peru and New Spain do, with the same powers granted to them by the Laws, Cédulas and Royal Decrees, and enjoying the same prerogatives and exemptions styled, practiced and observed in both kingdoms’. Thus, the real cédula explicitly acknowledged that the newly created office of viceroy of the New Kingdom of Granada was to operate within the same legal framework as the other Spanish viceroys in the Americas, participating in the same ceremonies and replicating the same government dynamics developed over nearly 200 years of viceregal rule.”(Eissa-Barroso 2017: 23) Eissa-Barroso, Francisco A. 2017. The Spanish Monarchy and the Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1739). Leiden: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XNET89MW
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Initially, Iban customary law was not formalized: ’The legal rights and duties of every Iban is defined by the adat , customary law. Among the laws affecting women are courtship, marriage, divorce, inheritance, and fines imposed in cases of infraction of the law. The fines are payed in kati , the value of which is based on brass or bronze, or in money; one kati equals one dollar.’
[1]
The White Rajah administration introduced a formal penal code: ’Sir Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke (b. Sept. 26, 1874, London-d. May 9, 1963, London) was the third and last “white raja” (1917-46). He joined the Sarawak administration in 1897. After World War I, a boom in rubber and oil drew Sarawak further into the world economy, and for that and other reasons the state embarked on gradual modernization of its institutions. Public services were developed, a Sarawak penal code modelled on that of British India was introduced in 1924, and there was some extension of educational opportunity.’
[2]
During the colonial period and early independence, Iban law was gradually standardized: ’The Iban have lived for generations in widely separated river valleys, and during their migrations they have come into close contact with other peoples. It is, therefore, to be expected that Iban religion--their agricultural rituals and ordering of society--might vary from district to district. Some differences certainly exist, but those who know the Iban well are constantly impressed by the homogeneous quality of their culture. Knowing that the social order and customary law are rooted in Iban religion, A. J.N. Richards, at that time Resident of the Second Division, decided in 1961 to convene in Simanggang a meeting of traditional and religious leaders to discuss the standardization of Second Division (Iban) law, the formal core of the Iban way of life. The meeting, at which I was present, was attended by thirty-five Iban gathered from all over the Division: apart from a few manang ( shaman /healers) (see below, pp. 59-64; also 142 seq.), these were all either recognized community leaders ( penghulu and tuai rumah )--hence also tuai burong in many cases, religious incantation experts ( lemambang ), or, as is not unusual, persons combining more than one office.’
[3]
We have assumed that the penal code was applied to Iban offenders as well.
[1]: Komanyi, Margit Ilona 1973. “Real And Ideal Participation In Decision-Making Of Iban Women: A Study Of A Longhouse Community In Sarawak, East Malaysia", 90 [2]: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Brooke-Raj [3]: Jensen, Erik 1974. “Iban And Their Religion”, 55p |
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“The monumental codification of civil law in 1812 was based on the principles of equality of all before the law.”
[1]
“Among the most decisive changes implemented in 1867 was a new judicial system, which was the first piece of constitutional legislation that the parliament considered in October 1867. This bill provided for the strict separation of justice and administration on all levels of government and for the development of professional norms that would protect the independence of the judiciary. The law stipulated jury trials for all particularly serious crimes, and for all offenses against the press laws. All judicial officers were required to take an oath of allegiance to uphold the constitutional system. The law also guaranteed life tenure to judges and sought to protect them against political interference and harassment.”
[2]
[1]: (Curtis 2013: 271) Curtis, Benjamin. 2013. The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty. London; New York: Bloomsbury. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TRKUBP92 [2]: (Boyer 2022: 99) Boyer, John W. 2022. Austria, 1867–1955. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CG3P4KKD |
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During the Russian period, some Russian legal concepts were adopted by the Sakha: ’N. P. Pripuzov gathered his material among the Yakuts living in the Yakutsk district, i. e., in the midst of that part of the Yakut tribe among whom we may rightly expect to encounter some traces of the action of Russian customary and legislative norms upon the customary law of the Yakuts. All the more interest attaches to the norms of the Yakut customary law noted by the compiler, which, despite the long association of the Yakuts with the Russians, have survived as a valuable vestige of the ancient familial-clan foundations. But no less interest attaches to certain juridical customs, communicated by the compiler, which have been worked out by the Yakuts under the obvious influence of the Russians; the structure of Yakut life is changing its aspect; the new conditions of life which are coming to birth demand new norms for their satisfaction. The latter are sometimes borrowed from Russian neighbors, come into contradiction with the bases of the ancient life and undergo certain changes under the influence of the archaic views on legal relations.’
[1]
But Sakha trials were based on prior agreements between the contending parties rather than codified law: ’Agreements and contracts, both written and oral, are taken as a basis for all trials and settlements; therefore, if there is no quarrel about the contents of an agreement, the decision is quick, but if anyone refuses to abide by an agreement, and it was oral, his opponent may prove it with witnesses, and, if there are no witnesses, the quarrel is decided by an oath.’
[2]
’“As a nation they are unsocial, litigious, and vindictive. An injury received by one of them is very rarely forgotten, and, if he cannot revenge it himself, he will leave the feud to his son. Their passion for litigation is excessive: they will frequently undertake difficult and expensive journeys, in a cause where perhaps the matter in dispute is not of the value of a rouble. Their unsocial dispo-sition, which leads them to prefer settling by single families at a distance from each other, is strikingly contrasted with the cheerful and ready hospitality which they show to strangers. They very seldom settle in communities, and it is only along the route from Jakuzk to the Aldan, where the country is more populous, that such settlements are now and then to be met with; but beyond the Werchojansk chain, the solitary jurti are often hundreds of wersts apart, so that the nearest neighbours may not see each other for years. Such distances are far greater than can be required on account of pasture, and are rather to be ascribed to the disposition which leads them to seek solitude, and to avoid all social intercourse.”’
[3]
Criminal cases were transferred to courts applying Russian law only after 1889: ’Nevertheless until very r ecently and even criminal cases such as beatings, personal injury, and thefts, even for a considerable amount, as long as a house was not broken into, were judged by the clan administration. Only from the year 1889, when an order came out to proceed against the trible authorities if they did not communicate such matters, have thefts begun to be referred to the Russian courts and judged according to Russian laws. For theft the Yakut usually punished wealthy people by a fine which was two or three times the value of the stolen article, depending on the circumstances. For beatings and personal injuries they sentenced the guilty party to support the injured party during his disablement or to pay him a lump sum. Now the guilty are put in prison, and to the great horror of their neighbors they usually leave out and out scoundrels. Such crimes as the violation of women, the breaking of agreements, fraud, and forgery were apparently unknown to the Yakut and went unpunished. But the violation of the wedding agreement was provided for by the kalym. At the present time most of the cases and statements of claim which come before the clan administrations concern the violation of boundary lines and various disputed lands.’
[4]
Clerical courts occasionally prosecuted polygamy prior to that date: ’Such polygamy, which is tolerated for the above reasons, and which has existed since ancient times and does not do any harm, had not become bad in the judgement of the Yakut, and no regulations for the abolition of this custom have been set up by the Yakut. However, since the Yakut adopted the Christian faith, and as they have become enlightened by strict surveillance and sometimes by indulgent reprimands from the eparchial priests, it has been gradually dying out, but nevertheless denunciations on this subject are made concerning people who have lawfully wedded wives but keep the others, and people who had several wives before conversion and married one of them in church without leaving the others, who were left at home with their children; in the case of such a denunciation the local authorities, on the grounds of the repugnance of the Christian religion for this custom, pressed formal charges, and the guilty parties were handed over to the clerical court as fornicators, and the cases were decided according to general state laws, which constituted and still constitute and extreme burden for the Yakut.’
[5]
Sieroszewski’s material on punishment seems to refer to Yakut assemblies rather than Russian courts: ’In 1867, according to official data, 1870 cases were judged in the upravas in the vicinity of Yakutsk: out of the total, 1855 concerned land disputes; in the Vilyuysk Okrug, out of 3786 cases, more than half had to do with land. Besides levying fines the Yakut also punish a guilty party by reprimanding him publicly, before the assembly, by sending him on some job, or putting him into solitary confinement. The latter is apparently a Russian innovation. Punishment with birch-rods was quite unknown to the Yakut in the past. Even now they have recourse to this very rarely and with great distaste. In the north they did not even know what this was like, and once, in the Kolymsk Ulus, when the assembly did not known what to do with one of its disobedient members and decided, on the advice of some Yakut who had come from the south, to flog him, they turned to me with questions: where should we beat him?, and do we have to lay him down and undress him or is that not permitted? (Kolymsk Ulus, Undzha, 1883). Usually the influence of the commune is quite sufficient to exert necessary compulsion. In the south, where the ties of the commune have weakened, we find disobedient people whose cattle are taken away as a punishment, or who are forced to obey. Many decisions of the clan assemblies astonished me by their strangeness, but once I looked closer into their life and made thorough inquiries into their motives I always found at the bottom a deep respect for the individual and a striving toward equality. Naturally I say nothing about those decisions which are demonstrably incorrect, and not in accord with custom and the conscience of the people, but which they have been forced to make because of the economic pressure of unscrupulous rich people or because of administrative arbitrariness.’
[6]
[1]: Kharuzin, Aleksai Nikolaevich 1898. “Juridicial Customs Of The Yakut”, 37 [2]: Samokvasov, D. I. A. 1876. “Collection Of Customary Law Of The Siberian Natives", 28 [3]: Wrangel, baron, Ferdinand Petrovich, and Edward Sabine Sir 1842. “Narrative Of An Expedition To The Polar Sea, In The Years 1820, 1821, 1822, & 1823”, 39 [4]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 798 [5]: Samokvasov, D. I. A. 1876. “Collection Of Customary Law Of The Siberian Natives”, 14 [6]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 799 |
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Soviet law, law developed in Russia after the communist seizure of power in 1917 and imposed throughout the Soviet Union in the 1920s. After World War II, the Soviet legal model also was imposed on Soviet-dominated regimes in eastern and central Europe. Later, ruling communist parties in China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam adopted variations of Soviet law. Soviet law, which changed radically during its more than 70 years of development in the Soviet Union, revived certain features of earlier tsarist law, shared key elements with the law of other dictatorships, and introduced public ownership of the means of production and subordination of the legal system to the Soviet Communist Party.
[1] [1]: Soviet Law | History & Facts | Britannica. Zotero link: 8E4CWR5V |
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Initially, Iban customary law was not formalized: ’The legal rights and duties of every Iban is defined by the adat , customary law. Among the laws affecting women are courtship, marriage, divorce, inheritance, and fines imposed in cases of infraction of the law. The fines are payed in kati , the value of which is based on brass or bronze, or in money; one kati equals one dollar.’
[1]
The White Rajah administration introduced a formal penal code: ’Sir Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke (b. Sept. 26, 1874, London-d. May 9, 1963, London) was the third and last “white raja” (1917-46). He joined the Sarawak administration in 1897. After World War I, a boom in rubber and oil drew Sarawak further into the world economy, and for that and other reasons the state embarked on gradual modernization of its institutions. Public services were developed, a Sarawak penal code modelled on that of British India was introduced in 1924, and there was some extension of educational opportunity.’
[2]
During the colonial period and early independence, Iban law was gradually standardized: ’The Iban have lived for generations in widely separated river valleys, and during their migrations they have come into close contact with other peoples. It is, therefore, to be expected that Iban religion--their agricultural rituals and ordering of society--might vary from district to district. Some differences certainly exist, but those who know the Iban well are constantly impressed by the homogeneous quality of their culture. Knowing that the social order and customary law are rooted in Iban religion, A. J.N. Richards, at that time Resident of the Second Division, decided in 1961 to convene in Simanggang a meeting of traditional and religious leaders to discuss the standardization of Second Division (Iban) law, the formal core of the Iban way of life. The meeting, at which I was present, was attended by thirty-five Iban gathered from all over the Division: apart from a few manang ( shaman /healers) (see below, pp. 59-64; also 142 seq.), these were all either recognized community leaders ( penghulu and tuai rumah )--hence also tuai burong in many cases, religious incantation experts ( lemambang ), or, as is not unusual, persons combining more than one office.’
[3]
We have assumed that the penal code was applied to Iban offenders as well.
[1]: Komanyi, Margit Ilona 1973. “Real And Ideal Participation In Decision-Making Of Iban Women: A Study Of A Longhouse Community In Sarawak, East Malaysia", 90 [2]: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Brooke-Raj [3]: Jensen, Erik 1974. “Iban And Their Religion”, 55p |
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"Similarly in urban administration, organized professional bodies enjoyed considerable autonomy. The law-codes of the Gupta period, which provide detailed information about the functioning of the guilds, even entrusted these corporate bodies with an important share in the administration of justice."
[1]
From the account of Fa Hian, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India around 400 CE: "[...] The kings govern without corporal punishment; criminals are fined according to circumstance, lightly or heavily. Even in cases of repeated rebellion they only cut off the right hand[...]’." [2] [1]: (Chakrabarti 1996: 199) Chakrabarti, K. 1996. The Gupta Kingdom. In History of civilizations of Central Asia, v. 3: The Crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 pp. 188-210. UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S8ZACV8X/library [2]: (Keay 2010, 146) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X. |
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"While the necessary reliance on archaeological evidence has ensured that many aspects of Harappan civilization, such as economic activities, settlements, industry, and biological anthropology, have been investigated as well as or better than those of literate civilizations, the absence of intelligible documentary material is a major handicap to understanding Harappan social and political organization and has put some aspects of Harappan life, such as the law, quite beyond cognizance."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2008: 245) Jane McIntosh. 2008. The Ancient Indus Valley. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: ABC-CLIO. |
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“Sima Zhao, father of Emperor Wu, by late summer 264, had a number of his supporters, supervised by Jia Chong (217–282), revise the whole of the Wei code, which had already been modified during the Sima Shi regency. The reason given was that the code, dating back to the Han, was too cumbersome. Certain laws had fallen into disuse, others, notably the collective punishments, were too harsh. ”
[1]
[1]: (Chaussende 2019: 86) Chaussende, D. 2019. Western Jin. In Dien and Knapp (eds) The Cambridge History of China Volume 2: The Six Dynasties, 220–589 pp. 79-95. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/JJWI9G9U/library |
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Official regulations covered "private property rights, the rule of law, trial by jury".
[1]
"In the case of Britain and the states that obtained independence from it, the two important components are Parliament as supreme law-maker and the nature and jurisdiction of courts."
[2]
. English common and statutory law, amended with colonial statutes wherever deemed necessary.
[1]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Taucar 2014) Christopher Edward Taucar. 2014. The British System of Government and Its Historical Development. McGill-Queen’s University Press. |
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“The Jin Code, also called the Taishi Code (Taishi lü) has not come down to us in its complete form. What we know comes mostly from the juridical chapter of the Jinshu. Sima Zhao, father of Emperor Wu, by late summer 264, had a number of his supporters, supervised by Jia Chong (217–282), revise the whole of the Wei code, which had already been modified during the Sima Shi regency. The reason given was that the code, dating back to the Han, was too cumbersome. Certain laws had fallen into disuse, others, notably the collective punishments, were too harsh. The justification for the revision tended strongly to devalue some of the code in order to prioritize the work achieved under the auspices of Sima Zhao.”
[1]
[1]: (Chaussende 2019: 86) Chaussende, D. 2019. Western Jin. In Dien and Knapp (eds) The Cambridge History of China Volume 2: The Six Dynasties, 220–589 pp. 79-95. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/JJWI9G9U/library |
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Formal Islamic and informal tribal law co-existed.
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Sharia law.
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’There was a collection of laws in Old Norse, but possibly not bundled together in a formal book. These laws were based upon Norwegian law. According to stories, these laws were brought over in the tenth century. The Alþingi was nominally led by the lawspeaker, who only functioned as a figurehead. His laws were not written down until approximately 1100 CE.’
[1]
Icelandic assemblies relied on a legal code but established no formal institutions for the purpose of law enforcement: ’Iceland had established systems of laws, assemblies, and judicial institutions to serve in resolving conflict but no centralized power to enforce order or verdicts. Everyone was legally required to belong to a farming household and individual farmers had authority over and responsibility for their households. Disputes, including injuries and killings, were settled through arbitration. The offending party paid compensation to the offended party. In more extreme cases the offending individual was outlawed, either for three years or permanently, and was official cast out of society and any right to compensation. Prosecution and collection of settlements was up to private individuals. Conflicts often overstepped institutional boundaries into blood feuds. Feuds could escalate well beyond the immediate individuals or households until the involved whole social networks. With the rise of chiefly power and territoriality in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries regional conflicts developed that eventually encompassed t he entire island. The decades of civil strife ended in 1262 A.D. when Iceland came under the authority of the Norwegian crown.’
[2]
The Grágás laws are a notable example: ’It is impossible to say how much of this book is represented in Grágás. Grágás has been preserved in two manuscripts which date to about 1260 and 1280. It is not possible to assign dates to individual provisions within it. The provenance of the manuscripts is unknown and neither is an official compilation (Miller 1990: 42).’
[3]
’Another section of Grágás, Vígslóði (“Consequences of Slaying”), says that compensations for slaying suits belong to heirs, men or women, and gives the order in which relatives should become plaintiffs. The saga evidence does not contradict this section of the law, to which the Baugatal is only an appendix (Phillpotts 1913 : 38).’
[4]
’One reading of the parts of Grágás that specify wergild divisions, Baugatal, suggests that Iceland was “almost a federation of kindreds” (Phillpotts 1913 : 11). Phillpotts reviews the law and says that “if we compare these regulations with Saga wergilds the result is somewhat baffling” (1913 : 13). In the whole corpus of sagas never is a wergild reduced to compensate for missing kinsmen in various categories. It is always a fixed sum. The wergild is never divided among classes of kindred as the law stipulates. There are no disputes about wergild shares among payers or receivers. In Iceland kinsmen quarreled about everything else, and elsewhere in northern Europe kinsmen disputed about the division of wergilds. Often a person who should receive payment of wergild as a relative of a slain person was fighting on the side of his killer (pp. 13-14).’
[5]
The formal codification process began in the early 12th century: ’By the end of the 10th century, the Norwegians were forced by their king, Olaf I Tryggvason, to accept Christianity. The king also sent missionaries to Iceland who, according to 12th-century sources, were highly successful in converting the Icelanders. In 999 or 1000 the Althing made a peaceful decision that all Icelanders should become Christians. In spite of this decision, the godar retained their political role, and many of them probably built their own churches. Some were ordained, and as a group they seem to have closely controlled the organization of the new religion. Two bishoprics were established, one at Skálholt in 1056 and the other at Hólar in 1106. Literate Christian culture also transformed lay life. Codification of the law was begun in 1117-18. Later the Icelanders began to write sagas, which were to reach their pinnacle of literary achievement in the next century.’
[6]
Some of the received material may have been obsolete by the time of codification: ’If we credit any of the other sources for the period, or the internal evidence of Grágás, it is clear that some of the laws recorded were obsolete, some never enacted, and some unenforced (Miller 1990:231; Dennis et al 1980). This poses the problem of how to interpret this document.’
[7]
[1]: Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins [2]: Bolender, Douglas James and Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for Early Icelanders [3]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1992. “Dynamics Of Medieval Iceland: Political Economy And Literature”, 80 [4]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1989. “Anthropological Perspectives On The Commonwealth Period”, 236 [5]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1989. “Anthropological Perspectives On The Commonwealth Period”, 235 [6]: http://www.britannica.com/place/Iceland/Government-and-society#toc10088 [7]: Durrenberger, E. Paul 1992. “Law And Literature In Medieval Iceland”, 33 |
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According to L.H. Morgan, there was no formal penal code: ’Crimes and offences were so unfrequent under their social system, that the Iroquois can scarcely be said to have had a criminal code. Yet there were certain misdemeanors which fell under the judicial cognizance of the sachems, and were punished by them in proportion to their magnitude. Witchcraft was punishable with death. Any person could take the life of a witch when discovered in the act. If this was not done, a council was called, and the witch arraigned before it, in the presence of the accuser. A full confession, with a promise of amendment, secured a discharge. But if the accusation was denied, witnesses were called and examined concerning the circumstances of the case; and if they established the charge to the satisfaction of the council, which they rarely failed to do, condemnation followed, with a sentence of death. The witch was then delivered over to such executioners as volunteered for the purpose, and by them was led away to punishment. After the decision of the council, the relatives of the witch gave him up to his doom without a murmur.’
[1]
But according to Lyford, there was an orally transmitted constitution validated by wampum beads: ’The League of the Iroquois was governed by a carefully worked out constitution that was transmitted orally from one generation to another by certain leaders (lords or sachems) whose business it was to learn and to recite the laws and regulations. For many generations these laws and regulations were recorded in a collection of wampum belts and strings, twenty-five of which are preserved today in the New York State Museum, whose director has been proclaimed “the keeper of the wampums.”’
[2]
During the reservation period, Iroquois law was subject to increasing formalization: ’Iroquois legal procedure during the reservation period was marked by the absence of symbols. Wampum which had extensive symbolic connotations, both in religious and civil procedures, was used in legal convocations only to convene the judicial body. In the longhouse, wampum validated the confessions of religious performers, but in the trials conducted by the Confederate Council no use of wampum was made to validate the testimony given by litigants. One instance was cited of a trial for murder being conducted in the provincial courts at Brantford wherein the accused, a Six Nations Indian, refused to take an oath upon the Bible and requested that the Council wampum be brought to court for the purpose of validating his oath. It may be suggested that writing had produced new legal symbols such as wills and quit claim deeds. The succeeding chapters will develop in detail the coordination of reservation society by the government of the Confederacy.’
[3]
’The legislative enactments of the Council represent in content an adequate means of coordinating reservation society with particular stress on the regulation of economic activity. The formulation of laws does not of itself assure the coordination of societal activity. Ethical values, as a rule, are not at issue in regulatory legislation, and deprived of the weight of ethical sanction, their enforcement depends heavily upon compulsive mechanisms. The Council, by exercise of its appointive powers, had created an adequate personnel to enforce its legislation. If any weakness existed, it was the neglect to include in their legislation the penalties to be assessed against violators.’
[4]
But according to Campisi, local decision-making still heavily relied on communal deliberation rather than formal law, although the legal texts used by Canadian and American authorities became more and more relevant to reservation life: ’The council of sachems exercised little power on thereservation, its primary function being to mediate disputes.Issues of general concern were handled in openmeetings at which all band members were eligible toparticipate. Issues were discussed until the band membersarrived at a general agreement or consensus. Failing this,the issue was simply set aside. After Canadian confederationin 1867 the Canadian Department of Indian Affairsexerted increased influence in the affairs of the Oneidas.When the general council of the Oneidas was unable to resolve an issue it was passed on by the agent, with hisdescription of the facts and sometimes a recommendation,to the department, which usually decided thequestion by applying the appropriate section of theIndian Act (A. Ricciardelli 1961:44-90).’
[5]
[1]: Morgan, Lewis Henry, and Herbert M. Lloyd 1901. “League Of The Ho-De’-No-Sau-Nee Or Iroquois. Vol. I”, 321 [2]: Lyford, Carrie A. 1945. “Iroquois Crafts”, 9b [3]: Noon, John A. 1949. “Law And Government Of The Grand River Iroquois”, 43 [4]: Noon, John A. 1949. “Law And Government Of The Grand River Iroquois”, 59 [5]: Campisi, Jack 1978. “Oneida”, 488 |
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Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity.
Most law in south Arabia was tribal law, a customary law, determined by ancient practice. This could only be changed by "paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together." [1] In south Arabia official edicts also were a source of law and could be made by ’the gods, via an oracle transcribed by their temple servants, and kings, in consultation with tribal councils". [2] Royal decrees were made by kings in the Ancient period of Saba (c800-450 CE) and by the Himyarites. [3] Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity. "The Mercantile Code of Qataban dates to about 110 BC and is a market proclamation designed to centralise trade in recognised markets, facilitate the collection of taxes and regulate prices. The code specifies that ’the King of Qataban has authority over all transactions and goods within his territory’. These powers allowed the king to set prices paid for cinnamon imports in Eudaimon [Aden] and Timna. The prices would be fixed so that royal agents could maximise the profits gained by selling state-owned stocks of the incoming aromatics." [4] [1]: (Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 127) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [3]: (Korotayev 1996, 114) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden. [4]: (McLaughlin 2014, 138-139) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley. |
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Terms of tenant-landholder agreements were "a matter of legislation."
[1]
The Rasulid state "developed minutely detailed regulations for customs administration." [2] [1]: (Stookey 1978, 112-113) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. [2]: (Stookey 1978, 113) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. |
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This is based on the codes for the Rasulids as ’Sultan ’Amir also appears to have been emulating the high period of Rasulid power a hundred years earlier’
[1]
Terms of tenant-landholder agreements were "a matter of legislation." [2] The Rasulid state "developed minutely detailed regulations for customs administration." [3] [1]: Porter, Venetia Ann (1992) The history and monuments of the Tahirid dynasty of the Yemen 858-923/1454-1517, Durham theses, Durham University, p. 4 Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5867/ [2]: (Stookey 1978, 112-113) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. [3]: (Stookey 1978, 113) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. |
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Hmong legal customs did not operate according to a written code: ’Among the Ch’uan Miao there are no written laws. The customs and habits of the group are the laws and what is customary is right. Crimes are infractions against the customs or mores of the group.’
[1]
’In every Sheng Miao village there is a set of rules and regulations which are voluntarily observed. In case of violation the offense is quickly adjudged by the public and an elder is invited to execute the punishment. Before it is carried out, however, he would tell the accused in a solemn manner the myths of their ancestors. Also in the case of a serious dispute the elder would summon both parties together, and first tell them the story of their ancestors before settling the dispute. After a decision is rendered in this fashion both parties would show compliance and would not carry the case to the law courts. Although the mythology handed down from mouth to mouth does not have religious contents, it becomes a kind of prophecy to those people who hold everything pertaining to their ancestors in the highest respect. It is entirely due to this inherent respect for their ancestors that the ancestral myth is recounted before carrying out the punishment or at the time of settling a dispute. The idea is to employ the will of the ancestors to restrain the actions of their descendants. It is interesting to note that the mythology of the Sheng Miao, meant originally to inform posterity of the stories of their ancestors’ life, has also assumed the corrective and preventive functions of law.’
[2]
Disputes were handled by local headmen, sometimes through ordeals: ’The Miao are addicted to kuei and to litigation. Sometimes litigation may last a year, and the court, unable to decide the case, may ask both parties to eat blood. This serves as a deterrent. Yen Ju-yü in his Miao Fang-pei Lan says: “Those who enter the temple to drink blood move on their knees and bellies, not daring to look up; those who are in the wrong dare not drink it, but repent and yield.” In the course of our investigations in the Miao frontier area, the private secretary of the hsien government at Feng-huang, Mr. Wang Yüeh-yen told us: “The T ’ien Wang temple is the Supreme Court of the Miao area. When a Miao is not satisfied with the decision of the hsien government, then he is ordered to go to the T ’ien Wang temple to drink blood. Whatever the litigation, big or small, it receives immediate settlement.” It can be seen that the Miao’s awe of kuei is greater than their awe of the law.’
[3]
Where literate residents were available, ad hoc regulations for specific situations were written down occasionally: ’After feasting each family brings home a small quantity of pork, from which a piece is cut off for sacrifice on the border of one’s field. A string of paper money is also stuck there as a token to invoke a prosperous harvest. In the afternoon every family contributes a few dimes for the purchase of vegetables and sends a representative to the party, at which rules and regulations are discussed regarding indemnities for damages to crops. He who can write is asked to list the rules on a piece of white paper to be affixed at the village gate. Then on the top of a high mound near the village they set up a straw mark and let loose a din of firecrackers to announce to villages far and near that this village has already passed its laws so that none may go there to violate them.’
[4]
Cases were transferred to formal courts operating under Chinese law when local settlement proved impossible: ’The Magpie Miao live in villages, occasionally compact but normally consisting of a cluster of separate hamlets. These are located on mountain slopes, usually far enough away from main transportation routes to be inaccessible and readily defensible. The Miao lack any political organization of their own, and are thoroughly integrated into the Chinese administrative system. The basic political, as well as economic and social unit, is the village. Villages are grouped into townships and divided into hamlets of about ten to twenty households each. The headmen of both the village and the hamlet are appointed by the chief of the township. The members of different villages or hamlets are bound principally by affinal ties. They may cooperate for the common good, but they lack any formal organization of an indigenous character. Disputes between members of the same hamlet are settled, if possible, within the hamlet. Those between members of different hamlets of the same village are adjudicated by a council composed of the village headman and the heads of the hamlets involved. If this council cannot effect a settlement, the litigants have a right to carry their dispute to the chief of the township or even to the Chinese court of the county.’
[5]
Given how Hmong villagers made use of the Chinese legal system, we have decided to code the variable ’present’.
[1]: Graham, David Crockett 1937. “Customs Of The Ch’Uan Miao", 28 [2]: Che-lin, Wu, Chen Kuo-chün, and Lien-en Tsao 1942. “Studies Of Miao-I Societies In Kweichow", 76 [3]: Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 228 [4]: Che-lin, Wu, Chen Kuo-chün, and Lien-en Tsao 1942. “Studies Of Miao-I Societies In Kweichow”, 103 [5]: Rui, Yifu 1960. “Magpie Miao Of Southern Szechuan”, 145 |
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The Shuar did not use a formal legal code, but had established means of responding to offenses. The murder of a kinsman had to be avenged: ’“When a murder committed by tribesman is to be avenged, the social morality of the Jibaros requires that the punishment shall be meted out with justice, in so far that for one life which has been taken only one life should be taken in retaliation. Thereupon the blood-guilt is atoned for (tumáshi akérkama) and the offended family is satisfied. Consequently, if a Jibaro Indian wishes to avenge the murder of his brother, it may well happen that he, if the slayer himself cannot be caught and punished, will assassinate his brother or father instead of him, but he does not take the life of more than one member of the family, even if he has an opportunity of killing more. If he, for instance, killed not only the murderer himself but also one of his brothers, this would awaken indignation in the whole tribe, and it would be considered just that the family thus offended in its turn should take revenge. The blood guilt in such a case has passed to the original avenger. This principle, which requires that there shall be justice in the retaliation so that life is weighed against life, in itself of course has a tendency to limit blood-revenge. It happens, however, in many cases, and especially when supposed witchery is in question, that the person accused of the crime does not admit the guilt, but asserts that he and his family are innocently persecuted by the relatives of the dead. If then he or a member of his family is murdered, his relatives try, in their turn, to take revenge, and so on, in which case the blood feud tends to become prolonged indefinitely.”’
[1]
’It seemed that this uncle had beaten one of his wives to death because she was unfaithful to him, and the woman’s family, considering the treatment unnecessarily harsh, had murdered the husband in retaliation. Custom said that Kuashu’s family must also take a life in order to satisfy the Jivaro sense of justice. With this end in view, the spirit of revenge was being kept alive, and almost every day the young men of the household were reminded of the duty which they inherited, and how they would eventually have to kill some member of the family who were responsible for their uncle’s murder. The boys listened to the tale, which had already been told them hundreds of times, with as much interest as if they had never heard it before, and I wondered how long it would be ere their hands were stained with blood. They saw nothing wrong in this lust for vengeance, for their creed taught them that the spirit [158] of their uncle could not rest till justice had been meted out. Furthermore, if they failed to take reprisals they and their families would be the ones to suffer.” ’
[2]
The obligation to avenge could be avoided through gift-giving: ’It seems that among the Aguaruna Indians there is a sort of murderous revenge, though there is a way of redeeming it with gifts. I heard of one case where the gift of a blowgun eliminated the necessity for bloody revenge.’
[3]
Deaths by sorcery had to be avenged as well: ’Fear of sorcery and incurring the wrath of the act as restraining elements of social control in the Jivaro community. In this society the code of lex talionis holds true so that anti-social acts directed against members of the community will result in assured retaliation by the victim’s family. Thus, the fear of reprisal also acts as a means of aggression control in the society.’
[4]
’“Their unbounded sense of liberty and their desire to be independent, not only of the whites but also of each other, is one of the reasons why they do not live in villages but each family separately, for in this way conflicts are more easily avoided. It may for instance, happen that the swine, the most important domestic animals, who during the day are allowed to roam about freely in the forest, penetrate into the plantations of a neighbouring family and devastate the crops. The owner gets angry and claims compensation for the damage done. In this way quarrels easily arise which may develop into bloody fights; at any rate there arises general discord and distrust between the two families. Some time later it may happen that one or more members of either family fall ill with some of the diseases which the Jibaros ascribe to witchcraft. When trying to find out the author of the evil the head of that family is most likely to attribute it to the malicious art of a neighbour with whom he has had such a quarrel. If the patient dies he has recourse to divination by means of the narcotic natéma, which generally leads to his suspicions of the neighbour being confirmed. The family’s sense of justice as well as the duty to the deceased now require that revenge shall be taken, and the supposed wizard is assassinated. This murder naturally awakens the desire for blood-revenge on the part of the family thus outraged, and so a blood-feud is begun, which, as is easily understood, has a tendency to make itself permanent.”’
[5]
Blood vengeance was less common within families, conflicts being solved informally: ’“Though, as we have seen, among the Jibaros blood-revenge takes place with regard to members of the same sub-tribe, this is not so when a crime is committed within the family. Among these Indians it sometimes occurs that a man kills his brother, if the latter, for instance, has seduced his wife or bewitched one of his children. But in this case blood-revenge is not generally taken, inasmuch as the natural avengers-that is, the father and the remaining brothers-abstain from carrying it out. ‘It is enough that one member of our family has died,’ they say, ‘why should we deprive ourselves of one more?’ The slayer is consequently pardoned. The absence of blood-revenge in a case like this is due to the natural sympathy which the avengers feel for the slayer, as well as to the consideration that by killing him they would only harm themselves, by weakening the power and influence of the family.”’
[6]
Stirling describes recognized extenuating circumstances: ’In the same way the Jivaros are apt to recognize extenuating circumstances in other cases where the crime has not been caused willfully, as for example, when someone in a state of intoxication or under the influence of a narcotic drink has been the cause of another person’s death. However, in any of these instances, if the [117] evildoer refuses to pay to compensation asked, he becomes liable to blood revenge.”’
[7]
[1]: Karsten, Rafael 1935. “Head-Hunters Of Western Amazonas: The Life And Culture Of The Jibaro Indians Of Eastern Ecuador And Peru”, 274 [2]: Dyott, George Miller 1926. “On The Trail Of The Unknown In The Wilds Of Ecuador And The Amazon", 157p [3]: Brüning, Hans H. 1928. “Travelling In The Aguaruna Region”, 73 [4]: Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Jivaro [5]: Karsten, Rafael 1935. “Head-Hunters Of Western Amazonas: The Life And Culture Of The Jibaro Indians Of Eastern Ecuador And Peru”, 269 [6]: Karsten, Rafael 1935. “Head-Hunters Of Western Amazonas: The Life And Culture Of The Jibaro Indians Of Eastern Ecuador And Peru", 274 [7]: Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians", 116p |
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SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ The Shuar did not use a formal legal code, but had established means of responding to offenses. The murder of a kinsman had to be avenged: ’“When a murder committed by tribesman is to be avenged, the social morality of the Jibaros requires that the punishment shall be meted out with justice, in so far that for one life which has been taken only one life should be taken in retaliation. Thereupon the blood-guilt is atoned for (tumáshi akérkama) and the offended family is satisfied. Consequently, if a Jibaro Indian wishes to avenge the murder of his brother, it may well happen that he, if the slayer himself cannot be caught and punished, will assassinate his brother or father instead of him, but he does not take the life of more than one member of the family, even if he has an opportunity of killing more. If he, for instance, killed not only the murderer himself but also one of his brothers, this would awaken indignation in the whole tribe, and it would be considered just that the family thus offended in its turn should take revenge. The blood guilt in such a case has passed to the original avenger. This principle, which requires that there shall be justice in the retaliation so that life is weighed against life, in itself of course has a tendency to limit blood-revenge. It happens, however, in many cases, and especially when supposed witchery is in question, that the person accused of the crime does not admit the guilt, but asserts that he and his family are innocently persecuted by the relatives of the dead. If then he or a member of his family is murdered, his relatives try, in their turn, to take revenge, and so on, in which case the blood feud tends to become prolonged indefinitely.”’
[1]
’It seemed that this uncle had beaten one of his wives to death because she was unfaithful to him, and the woman’s family, considering the treatment unnecessarily harsh, had murdered the husband in retaliation. Custom said that Kuashu’s family must also take a life in order to satisfy the Jivaro sense of justice. With this end in view, the spirit of revenge was being kept alive, and almost every day the young men of the household were reminded of the duty which they inherited, and how they would eventually have to kill some member of the family who were responsible for their uncle’s murder. The boys listened to the tale, which had already been told them hundreds of times, with as much interest as if they had never heard it before, and I wondered how long it would be ere their hands were stained with blood. They saw nothing wrong in this lust for vengeance, for their creed taught them that the spirit [158] of their uncle could not rest till justice had been meted out. Furthermore, if they failed to take reprisals they and their families would be the ones to suffer.” ’
[2]
The obligation to avenge could be avoided through gift-giving: ’It seems that among the Aguaruna Indians there is a sort of murderous revenge, though there is a way of redeeming it with gifts. I heard of one case where the gift of a blowgun eliminated the necessity for bloody revenge.’
[3]
Deaths by sorcery had to be avenged as well: ’Fear of sorcery and incurring the wrath of the act as restraining elements of social control in the Jivaro community. In this society the code of lex talionis holds true so that anti-social acts directed against members of the community will result in assured retaliation by the victim’s family. Thus, the fear of reprisal also acts as a means of aggression control in the society.’
[4]
’“Their unbounded sense of liberty and their desire to be independent, not only of the whites but also of each other, is one of the reasons why they do not live in villages but each family separately, for in this way conflicts are more easily avoided. It may for instance, happen that the swine, the most important domestic animals, who during the day are allowed to roam about freely in the forest, penetrate into the plantations of a neighbouring family and devastate the crops. The owner gets angry and claims compensation for the damage done. In this way quarrels easily arise which may develop into bloody fights; at any rate there arises general discord and distrust between the two families. Some time later it may happen that one or more members of either family fall ill with some of the diseases which the Jibaros ascribe to witchcraft. When trying to find out the author of the evil the head of that family is most likely to attribute it to the malicious art of a neighbour with whom he has had such a quarrel. If the patient dies he has recourse to divination by means of the narcotic natéma, which generally leads to his suspicions of the neighbour being confirmed. The family’s sense of justice as well as the duty to the deceased now require that revenge shall be taken, and the supposed wizard is assassinated. This murder naturally awakens the desire for blood-revenge on the part of the family thus outraged, and so a blood-feud is begun, which, as is easily understood, has a tendency to make itself permanent.”’
[5]
Blood vengeance was less common within families, conflicts being solved informally: ’“Though, as we have seen, among the Jibaros blood-revenge takes place with regard to members of the same sub-tribe, this is not so when a crime is committed within the family. Among these Indians it sometimes occurs that a man kills his brother, if the latter, for instance, has seduced his wife or bewitched one of his children. But in this case blood-revenge is not generally taken, inasmuch as the natural avengers-that is, the father and the remaining brothers-abstain from carrying it out. ‘It is enough that one member of our family has died,’ they say, ‘why should we deprive ourselves of one more?’ The slayer is consequently pardoned. The absence of blood-revenge in a case like this is due to the natural sympathy which the avengers feel for the slayer, as well as to the consideration that by killing him they would only harm themselves, by weakening the power and influence of the family.”’
[6]
Stirling describes recognized extenuating circumstances: ’In the same way the Jivaros are apt to recognize extenuating circumstances in other cases where the crime has not been caused willfully, as for example, when someone in a state of intoxication or under the influence of a narcotic drink has been the cause of another person’s death. However, in any of these instances, if the [117] evildoer refuses to pay to compensation asked, he becomes liable to blood revenge.”’
[7]
[1]: Karsten, Rafael 1935. “Head-Hunters Of Western Amazonas: The Life And Culture Of The Jibaro Indians Of Eastern Ecuador And Peru”, 274 [2]: Dyott, George Miller 1926. “On The Trail Of The Unknown In The Wilds Of Ecuador And The Amazon", 157p [3]: Brüning, Hans H. 1928. “Travelling In The Aguaruna Region”, 73 [4]: Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Jivaro [5]: Karsten, Rafael 1935. “Head-Hunters Of Western Amazonas: The Life And Culture Of The Jibaro Indians Of Eastern Ecuador And Peru”, 269 [6]: Karsten, Rafael 1935. “Head-Hunters Of Western Amazonas: The Life And Culture Of The Jibaro Indians Of Eastern Ecuador And Peru", 274 [7]: Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians", 116p |
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Although there were legal codes among the Mongolians, the Oirat did not establish a formal legal code until 1640 – ten years after this polity period ends: “The contrast of this newly emerging picture with the legal practices of the Oirat polity is quite sharp. The Oirat and Khalkha aristocrats agreed consensually upon a single, relatively comprehensive law code at an assembly in 1640, more or less exactly the kind of abstract body of law promulgated on a single occasion that Chinggis Khan’s jasaq was not. These were later supplemented by decrees of Galdan Khung-Taiji (later Boshogtu Khan) among the Zünghars and by Dondug-Dashi of the Kalmyks (Doronatib 1985: 1–16, 202–05, 230–36; Riasanovsky 1937/1965: 46–52). A similar law-code has been discovered for the Upper Mongols in Tibet, although it has not yet been published (Cerengbal 2002). Significantly, the Mongol-Oirat code of 1640 begins with provisions designed to create a ‘collective security’ regime among the semiautonomous Khalkha and Oirat principalities (Doronatib 1985: §§1–4; Riasanovsky 1937/1965: 93). The formal promulgation of a code thus appears to be an aspect of the consensual (at the elite level) and aristocratic nature of the Oirat polity, as opposed to the almost purely monarchic and despotic Chinggisid polity.”
[1]
“In the 1640 law code, the four tüshimed were treated as commoners and hence were not members of the ruling lineages of their ethnie. In the Mongol-Oirat Code, the ‘four ministers of the court’ or ‘four ministers who handle administration’ (yamutu dörben tüshimed or jasag barigsan dörben tüshimed ) appear in one set of provisions alongside the tabunang-ud (‘sons-in-law’), after the great, middle, and lesser nobles (noyad) but before the headmen of the otogs (camp districts).”
[2]
“Law codes from the Oirats show a pervasively class-based judicial system with fines based in various ways on the status of the offender and/or victim (Riasanovsky 1937/1965: 46–52). A similar system is not reported in the Chinggisid empire. The authority system in both polities was buttressed by a patriarchal and patrilocal family ideology that prescribed strict hierarchies of age and sex, subordinating daughters-inlaw to their mothers-in-law, sons to their fathers, and wives to their husbands (Doronatib 1985: §§25–31; Riasanovsky 1937/1965: 101–102). Curiously the practice of including servants as part of the property transferred in noble marriages is not mentioned in the provisions of the Oirat law codes about inje or dowries (Doronatib 1985: §§33–37; Riasanovsky 1937/1965: 100). Still, such provisions existed under Chinggis Khan and were codified later under the Qing (Nayiraltu and Altan’orgil 1989: II, §§841– 842; Lifan Yuan 1826/1998: 247–48; Zhang et al. 1998: §§832–834). Most likely, the dowries of the great lords were simply unregulated. They were the ones who would be likely to have human dowry and their dowries are not mentioned in the Mongol-Oirat Code.”
[3]
[1]: (Atwood 2010: 623) Atwood, Christopher. 2010. “Titles, Appanages, Marriages and Officials: A Comparison of Political Forms in the Zunghar and Thirteenth-Century Mongol Empires,” in The History of Mongolia: Volume II, Yuan and Late Medieval Period, ed. David Sneath, vol. 2, 3 vols. Kent: Global Oriental. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2CK8T6ER [2]: (Atwood 2010: 615-616) Atwood, Christopher. 2010. “Titles, Appanages, Marriages and Officials: A Comparison of Political Forms in the Zunghar and Thirteenth-Century Mongol Empires,” in The History of Mongolia: Volume II, Yuan and Late Medieval Period, ed. David Sneath, vol. 2, 3 vols. Kent: Global Oriental. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2CK8T6ER [3]: (Atwood 2010: 621-622) Atwood, Christopher. 2010. “Titles, Appanages, Marriages and Officials: A Comparison of Political Forms in the Zunghar and Thirteenth-Century Mongol Empires,” in The History of Mongolia: Volume II, Yuan and Late Medieval Period, ed. David Sneath, vol. 2, 3 vols. Kent: Global Oriental. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2CK8T6ER |
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The Sudebnik of 1550 was a legal code enacted by Tsar Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) that played a significant role in the legal development of the Tsardom of Russia. This code was part of Ivan IV’s efforts to reform and centralize the Russian government and judicial system.
[1]
The Sobornoe Ulozhenie (Соборное уложение) was a comprehensive legal code enacted during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. It was the first consolidated set of laws in Russia and remained in effect until the modernization reforms of the 19th century. [2] [1]: “The Code of Law (the Sudebnik) of 1550,” Presidential Library, https://www.prlib.ru/en/section/685466. Zotero link: KSXXKUNK [2]: Gregory Freeze, Russia: A History (Oxford University Press, 1998). Zotero link: 4PTARV3W |
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There were both written and unwritten laws across the Empire, some of which did not survive in practice as many laws were not codified. The largest territory of the Empire, Germany, had not completely codified its laws until 1806.
[1]
Laws were also local to each member country of the Empire and so it was not uniform across all territories. There were two forms of institutional law; one comprised the rules for the elite population and their homage, vassalage and fealty to the monarch, while canon law was a more widespread form of moral, legal and ecclesiastical laws. Between 1037 and 1158 Emperor’s issued four statutes regarding feudal relations.
[2]
[1]: Wilson 2016: 604. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA [2]: Wilson 2016: 606. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA |
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Inferred present Middle Kingdom, inferred present Old Kingdom.
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Roman and Spanish law.
[1]
[1]: (Maltby 2009, 91) Maltby, William S. 2009. The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Empire. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SUSVXWVH |
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SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’. Bollig, writing in the colonial period, claims that tribal laws were fluid rather than fixed, although the colonial administration increasingly sought to impose its own regulations: ’The main task of the chief is the laying down and execution of the bu[unknown]un fanu, that is, the tribal laws. In practice the bu[unknown] is usually illusory, since nobody wants to follow it. Not for nothing do the Truk people say sarcastically about the conditions on their islands: “ en sob me bu[unknown]un, each district has its own laws,” or what is even worse: “ en me bu[unknown]un,” freely translated: “So many heads, so many meanings.” Moreover, it is a duty of the chief to communicate to the people the regulations of the government, to see that they are carried out, and to collect the head tax.’
[1]
Apparently, many customary regulations were no longer enforced under foreign administration: ’The effect of this ruling was to deprive the granting corporation of its residual title; once the grant was made, the grantee had full title. The grantee need not now render first fruits or obtain the grantor’s approval for transactions he wished to arrange. The head of the granting corporation could no longer claim to be sowuppwún; this title now belonged to the head of the recipient corporation if he wished to claim it. Some people on Romónum continue to follow traditional practice and continue to render gifts of first fruits to the traditional sowuppwún as a matter of courtesy, and there are some who still try to assert their right to first fruits under the traditional system. No one is compelled to follow traditional practice and a number of people no longer do so. It is my impression that scarcely anyone would do so if he felt that he would be seriously inconvenienced by it.’
[2]
’The value of residual title to tracts of “soil” had helped to hold lesser corporations of immediate siblings together in lineages in the traditional social system. Except as other interests countervail, Romónum’s traditional lineage organization has been weakened. Indeed, before I learned about rulings of the courts, I had gained an impression that Romónum’s lineages were less frequently a unit of reference in community affairs than they had been in 1947. Talk of dissension within the lineages led me to the intuitive judgment that the lineage organization was weaker and looser than it had been. I cannot pretend to have examined all the different possible causes of this, but if my impression was correct, the court’s ruling regarding the jural relations of grantor and grantee in land transactions seems likely to have been an important contributing factor.’
[2]
Accordingly, inferences are difficult here. We have decided to follow the SCCS codes in this case.
[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 126 [2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1974. “Changing Social Organization On Romónum, Truk, 1947-1965”, 80 |
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No information found in sources so far.
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Oaths had a legally binding character: ’This done, each subordinate ruler, by order of seniority, swears to be faithful to the ruler, and to obey all his lawful orders; that if called upon by night or by day to join the public forces or otherwise to defend the state and the ruler, he and his people will be found ready. Similar oath is taken by the headmen and captains of the Gyasi. Persons unable to be present through unavoidable causes are represented by competent persons, and the oaths taken with the ceremonies observed by such representatives are lawful, and bind their principals. Having completed the oath of allegiance and fealty, the subordinate rulers and Gyasi, linguists, councillors, and other elders, solemnly consummate the ceremony with a sacrament by eating fetish; the Omanhene, however, does so by a deputy, who is his nearest blood relative (male), or, if a woman, one past childbearing. In conclusion, sacrifice is made and libation poured in memory of the deceased rulers, and for the safety and prosperity of the general community. In some places the priest offers the prayers and makes the sacrifices, but in others the custodians of the stool make the sacrifices, besprinkle it with blood the while the head linguist invokes blessings on the new ruler and the people generally. On the meeting breaking up, the rest of the day is given up to feasting, firing of guns, and public rejoicings. Advantage is taken of this opportunity to appoint new officers, create new offices, settle any disputes and misunderstandings between the subordinate rulers or other persons of importance; charges against public officers are investigated, [Page 22] undesirable officers are removed, new laws are discussed, enacted, and promulgated by the beating of a gong. As previously stated, the subordinate rulers of the Wassaw country representing the people generally as against the Omanhene (head ruler) are called Asamanfu, namely, the mortals, for they march before the head ruler in battle array, and, as they lead the van, the enemy must vanquish and annihilate them before he reaches the Omanhene. The ruler of Sekeri-Himan is next in authority to the head ruler. The ruler of Apintoe Awudwa is next to that of Sekeri-Himan.’
[1]
The Ohene presided over the tribunal, assisted also by a ’linguist’, an official versed in what Sarbah calls customary law, orally transmitted: ’The Ohene, presiding over the tribunal, as well as the several councillors, express themselves through the linguist. The decision in every trial is pronounced by him. He goes with the president and councillors when they retire to deliberate on the case before them, and he delivers the judgment of the court. A linguist occupies a most confidential position, and the head linguist is usually one of the principal advisers of the ruler. In ordinary cases the [Page 33] ruler and he alone can lawfully constitute a court and decide cases. It is his duty to be conversant with the history of his country and the family history of the stool. At the yearly observance of the stool custom he takes a prominent part; moreover, he should be learned in the customary law, command a large stock of parables and apt phrases, be a man of ready and effective speech, and not unacquainted with the arts of diplomacy. In former years public speakers, for such are linguists, were not considered competent until they had been trained in the courts of the Asanti king and certain principal towns in Fantiland, which the non-Fanti inhabitants called the land of history, the seat of poetry, and the abode of enlightenment.’
[2]
The variable was provisionally coded ’present’.
[1]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 21p [2]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 32p |
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Codes of laws and regulations were recorded in inscriptions (commonly incised on stone). Legal inscriptions were found in many city-states and provide a picture on the legal systems adopted by the Cretan city-states.
[1]
[2]
. The most important inscription, the longest inscription of the Greek world, is the famous Gortyn Code or the Great Code.
[3]
[4]
[5]
. The inscription consists of 12 surviving columns of text written on the circular walls of a public building, perhaps the bouleuterion of Gortyn. The first fragment of code was discovered in the 1850s and the rest of the inscription was brought to light by Federico Halbherr and Ernst Fabricius. The inscription stones had been reused as part of the foundations of the Roman Odeion (1st century BCE). The text is written boustrophedonically in the Dorian dialect. The Great Code record laws related to inheritance, ownership of slaves, rape and adultery, matters of childhood, divorce and widowhood, and sale and mortgaging of land. The legislation make clear distinctions between the different social classes (free Cretan citizens, serf, slaves and foreigners). The absence of other legislative texts set this inscription aside as a unique source for the study of the economy and society of Cretan cities. The Great Code I. Whoever intends to bring suit in relation to a free man or slave, shall not take action by seizure before trial; but if he do seize him, let the judge fine him ten staters for the free man, five for the slave, and let him release him within three days. But if he do not release him, let the judge sentence him to a stater for a free man, a drachma for a slave, each day until he has released him. But if he deny that he made the seizure, the judge shall decide with oath, unless a witness testify. If one party contend that he is a free man, the other that he is a slave, those who testify that he is free shall be preferred. But if they testify either for both parties or for neither of the two, the judge shall render his decision by oath. But if the slave on account of whom the defendant was defeated take refuge in a temple, the defendant, summoning the plaintiff in the presence of two witnesses of age and free, shall point out the slave at the temple; but if he do not issue the summons or do not point him out, he shall pay what is written. And if he do not return him, even within the year, he shall pay in addition to the sums stated one-fold. But if he die while the suit is progressing, he shall pay his value one-fold. II. If one commit rape on a free man or woman, he shall pay 100 staters, and if on the son or daughter of an apetairos ten, and if a slave on a free man or woman, he shall pay double, and if a free man on a male or female serf five drachmas, and if a serf on a male or female serf, five staters. If one debauch a female house-slave by force he shall pay two staters, but if one already debauched, in the daytime, an obol, but if at night, two obols. If one tries to seduce a free woman, he shall pay ten staters, if a witness testify. . . III. If one be taken in adultery with a free woman in her father=s, brother=s, or husband=s house, he shall pay 100 staters, but if in another=s house, fifty; and with the wife of an apetairos, ten. But if a slave with a free woman, he shall pay double, but if a slave with a slave’s wife, five. . .IV. If a husband and wife be divorced, she shall have her own property that she came with to her husband, and the half of the income if it be from her own property, and whatever she has woven, the half, whatever it may be, and five staters, if her husband be the cause of her dismissal; but if the husband deny that he was the cause, the judge shall decide. . . V. If a man die, leaving children, if his wife wish, she may marry, taking her own property and whatever her husband may have given her, according to what is written, in the presence of three witnesses of age and free. But if she carry away anything belonging to her children she shall be answerable. And if he leaves her childless, she shall have her own property and whatever she has woven, the half, and of the produce on hand in possession of the heirs, a portion, and whatever her husband has given her as is written. If a wife shall die childless, the husband shall return to her heirs her property, and whatever she has woven the half, and of the produce, if it be from her own property, the half. If a female serf be separated from a male serf while alive or in case of his death, she shall have her own property, but if she carry away anything else she shall be answerable. VI. If a woman bear a child while living apart from her husband after divorce, she shall have it conveyed to the husband at his house, in the presence of three witnesses; if he do not receive the child, it shall be in the power of the mother to bring up or expose. . . VII. The father shall have power over his children and the division of the property, and the mother over her property. As long as they live, it shall not be necessary to make a division. But if a father die, the houses in the city and whatever there is in the houses in which a serf residing in the country does not live, and the sheep and the larger animals which do not belong to the serf, shall belong to the sons; but all the rest of the property shall be divided fairly, and the sons, howsoever many there be, shall receive two parts each, and the daughters one part each. The mother’s property also shall be divided, in case she dies, as is written for the father’s. And if there should be no property but a house, the daughters shall receive their share as is written. And if a father while living may wish to give to his married daughter, let him give according to what is written, but not more. . . X. As long as a father lives, no one shall purchase any of his property from a son, or take it on mortgage; but whatever the son himself may have acquired or inherited, he may sell if he will; nor shall the father sell or pledge the property of his children, whatever they have themselves acquired or succeeded to, nor the husband that of his wife, nor the son that of the mother. . . If a mother die leaving children, the father shall be trustee of the mother’s property, but he shall not sell or mortgage unless the children assent, being of age; and if anyone shall otherwise purchase or take on pledge the property, it shall still belong to the children; and to the purchaser or pledgor the seller or pledgee shall pay two-fold the value in damages. But if he wed another, the children shall have control of the mother’s property. XI. If a slave going to a free woman shall wed her, the children shall be free; but if the free woman to a slave, the children shall be slaves; and if from the same mother free and slave children be born, if the mother die and there be property, the free children shall have it; otherwise her free relatives shall succeed to it. XIV. The heiress shall marry the brother of the father, the eldest of those living; and if there be more heiresses and brothers of the father, they shall marry the eldest in succession. . . But if he do not wish to marry the heiress, the relatives of the heiress shall charge him and the judge shall order him to marry her within two months; and if he do not marry, she shall marry the next eldest. If she do not wish to marry, the heiress shall have the house and whatever is in the house, but sharing the half of the remainder, she may marry another of her tribe, and the other half shall go to the eldest. . .XVI.A son may give to a mother or a husband to a wife 100 staters or less, but not more; if he should give more, the relatives shall have the property. If anyone owing money, or under obligation for damages, or during the progress of a suit, should give away anything, unless the rest of his property be equal to the obligation, the gift shall be null and void. One shall not buy a man while mortgaged until the mortgagor release him. XVII.Adoption may take place whence one will; and the declaration shall be made in the market-place when the citizens are gathered. If there be no legitimate children, the adopted shall received all the property as for legitimates. If there be legitimate children, the adopted son shall receive with the males the adopted son shall have an equal share. If the adopted son shall die without legitimate children, the property shall return to the pertinent relatives of the adopter. A woman shall not adopt, nor a person under puberty. XVIII. Whatever is written for the judge to decide according to witnesses or by oath of denial, he shall decide as is written, but touching other matters shall decide under oath according to matters in controversy. If a son have given property to his mother, or a husband to his wife, as was written before these writings, it shall not be illegal; but hereafter gifts shall be made as here written.
[6]
Crete owes much of its fame in Classical Greece to its internal organization and its cultivation of the laws. This prestige is partly due to mythological traditions and Minoan memories and survivals. The laws that, according to legend, Minos received every nine years, and the figure of Rhadamanthys the just judge, bear witness to a dim recollection of an earlier rule of law. From as early as the 7th century BCE, Crete had engaged in important legislative innovations, some of which can be reconstructed from the later laws of Gortyn. The famous legal inscription of Gortyn is not an isolated example. Fragments of laws dating from the 7th to the mid-5th century survive in many cities. The reasons for this legislative activity - an activity that includes both the recording of older laws and the introduction of new ones - were the major problems concerning land ownership, inheritance, small landowners’ dependence on creditors as a result of the gradual spread of a monetary economy, and the presence of individuals who lacked political rights but engaged in important financial activities as traders, craftsmen and freelance workers. There was very little interest in reform of the existing regime: the handful of laws on civic issues were intended to limit the arbitrary actions and immunity of the Kosmoi. [1]: Willetts, R. F. 1965. Ancient Crete. A Social History, London and Torondo, 76-84 [2]: Chaniotis, A. 1897. "Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη," in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, Heraklion, 200-03. [3]: Guarducci, M. 1950. Inscriptiones Creticae IV, Rome, n. 72 [4]: Willetts, R. F. 1967. The Law Code of Gortyn, Berlin [5]: Di Vita, A. (ed.). 1984. Creta Antica. Cento anni di archaeologia italiana (1884-1984), Rome, 73-9 [6]: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/450-gortyn.asp. |
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Reference to arabic sources shows that the Islamic law was practice among the Muslims. On the other hand, although there is no direct evidence, we can assume that the Christians followed their own low in their private life according to the typical Muslim intolerance.
[1]
[1]: Christides, B. The Conquest of Crete by Arabs (ca. 824). A Turning Point in the Struggle Between Byzantium and Islam, Athens, 115. |
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Shariah (Islamic law) which was not applied to non-Muslim zimmis and customary law.
[1]
"The rulers also framed regulations related to criminal law."
[2]
[1]: Habibullah, A. B. M. (1961). The foundation of Muslim rule in India. Central Book Depot, pp 225. [2]: (Ahmed 2011, 99) Ahmed, Farooqui Salma. 2011. A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson Education India. |
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There was little legal formalization on village level: ‘Among the Garos most disputes arise over the issues of property, inheritance, and domestic quarrels within the family. Such problems are to a large extent settled by the MAHARI (lineage) of the offended and the offender. A new situation develops when someone’s cattle cause damage to another’s crops. Under such situation the NOKMA (village headman) acts as an intermediary only. If he fails to settle the dispute, the matter can go to the civil court of the district council.’
[1]
Prior to enforcement of colonial regulations, disputes were decided by ordeal: ‘Since the annexation of the Garo Hills by the British Government, a body of men called laskars has been formed, who act as a kind of rural police and also as honorary magistrates. They are empowered to deal with all minor matters and settle unimportant disputes. They do this by calling together meetings of villagers, in which they sit as presidents and give final decisions. Their powers do not exceed those of inflicting fines and awarding compensation to injured parties. This is but an adaptation of the ancient usages of the people, for in former times, the village met in conference to decide any matter in dispute between its members. When in these meetings evidence could not be adduced, recourse was, and is yet had to trial by ordeal. This is of two kinds, the s˘il-s[unknown]o °a, or ordeal of hot iron, and the ch[unknown]okéla-s[unknown]o °a, or ordeal of boiling water.’
[2]
Only the colonial authorities introduced formal legal codes that applied to different administrative levels: ‘The application of the Rules for the Administration of Justice vested in the village headman and laskars with judicial authority created some formal stereotypes for the administration which affected the traditional set-up, based on unwritten customary laws. The Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure were not applied but only the spirit of the Penal Code was followed. A villager can no longer avenge a death by killing. The sanction of tribal law does not lie in custom alone but in the principles on which their society is based. ‘
[3]
‘At present, there are atleast three major sets of statutory instruments relevant to the judicial administration which are applicable in the Garo Hills District. They are: (a) Rules for the Administration of Justice and Police in the Garo Hills, 1937, issued on the 29th March, 1937 to the extent to which some portions of these Rules still survive. (This is a matter of considerable obscurity), (b) Rules for the Administration of Justice in the Garo Hills Autonomous District, 1953, issued on the 18th December, 1953 and (c) The Assam High Court Order, 1954 dealing with the jurisdiction of the High Court in relation to various District Council Courts in the tribal area in question.’
[4]
It seems that the Zamindars did not push for legal formalization.
[1]: Roy, Sankar Kumar: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Garo [2]: Playfair, Alan 1909. “Garos”, 74 [3]: Marak, Kumie R. 1997. “Traditions And Modernity In Matrilineal Tribal Society”, 163 [4]: Marak, Kumie R. 1997. “Traditions And Modernity In Matrilineal Tribal Society”, 57 |
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Inferred from long Mesopotamian/Babylonian legal tradition.
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Inferred from long Mesopotamian/Babylonian legal tradition.
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Inferred from long Mesopotamian/Babylonian legal tradition.
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Inferred from long Mesopotamian/Babylonian legal tradition.
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No single body of law. “There was no legislative body and no division between executive and judiciary: administrative officials of all levels also held judicial authority. That the profession of a judge did not exist-in contrast to contemporary Babylonia-is also shown by the fact that the word dayānu, “judge, ” was not used for human beings in Neo-Assyrian.” No court building.
[1]
[1]: (Westbrook et al. 2003, 883, 886, 890) |
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Sharia law.
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Motions for governance were created by the city council (boule) and assembly (ekklesia) with an executive body (prytaneis) to be passed by the citizen body (dēmos) in cities such as Antioch-in-Persis
[1]
, but these rules presumably only applied to the local city or satrapy rather than the empire as a whole. An example may be the public decree issued by a council of elders and magristrates in Laodicea, which caused three priests to complain.
[2]
[1]: Kosmin, P. J. 2013. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids in Iran. In, Potts, D. T (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.671-689. p682-3. [2]: Sosin, J. 2005. Unwelcome Dedications: Public Law and Private Religion in Hellenistic Laodicea by the Sea. The Classical Quarterly, New Series. 55 (1) pp130-139. p130 |
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As in earlier periods, the Papal States possessed foundational legal texts in the form of the Codex Iustinianus, canon law, papal bulls, and the various constitutions and edicts that governed individual territories’ relationship with the papacy as a central power. The Constitutiones egidianae (1357) still remained the basis for mundane law and administration in the Papal States.
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Canon law, papal bulls, and various constitutions all applied in the Papal States.
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"Each town possessed its own special code, called the Statuto, which the Rectors swore to observe. The Statuto dealt with octroi dues, roads and bridges, wells, lighting, doctors, nurses, fires, guilds, santitary matters, - in short with all the multifarous details of municipal and even of private life."
[1]
"The Venetian constitution in fact froze in the form it attained early in the fourteenth century and survived externally unaltered until the demise of the Republic in 1797." [2] "Leze might at first appear a term both clear and neutral, but if we stop to consider the ways in which it was translated, the multiple realities this term might encompass (i.e., collections of statutes of the subject cities, customary laws, and a generally regulative idea of justice, charged with ethnical and religious meanings) and the close identification of leze and the defense of legality with the republican constitution, that first and oversimplified perception is replaced by the awareness of a far more complex system." [3] "On the one hand, the Roman law-based tradition of terraferma statutes, sources of law in general, and judicial practice was a tradition much dependent on the legal expertise of jurists organic to local elites. On the other hand, Venice’s own, separate legal and judicial tradition was characterized by the space for empirical, informal, ’political criteria of equity in judging and by assignment of judicial posts to patricians with no legal training. Though much mainland judging remained the business of local courts with local judges, the uneasy reconciliation of these thwo approaches was evident in the dual options of mainland governors: they an entourage of legal professionals, judging by local law, but were also empowered to override the usual priority in sources of law. ... Local statutory traditions continued essentially intact, with periodic renewal of statues subject to Venetian approval, which entailed no drastic interference. Such codes were generally not significantly updated by new laws formulated by mainland legislators once under Venetian dominion, nor did they include as statutory norms the heterogeneous accumulation of Venetian laws and rulings, referred to single territories or (more rarely) to the whole of the mainland." [4] [1]: (? 1902, 263) ?. Chapter VIII. Venice. A W Ward. G W Prothero. Stanley Leathes. eds. 1902. The Cambridge Modern History. Volume I. The Renaissance. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (McNeill 1986, 46) William H McNeill. 1986. Venice: The Hinge of Europe, 1081-1797. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. [3]: (Viggiano 2014, 54) Alfredo Viggiano. Politics and Constitution. Eric Dursteler. ed. 2014. A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797. BRILL. Leiden. [4]: (Knapton 2014, 98) Michael Knapton. The Terraferma State. Eric Dursteler. ed. 2014. A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797. BRILL. Leiden. |
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"Each town possessed its own special code, called the Statuto, which the Rectors swore to observe. The Statuto dealt with octroi dues, roads and bridges, wells, lighting, doctors, nurses, fires, guilds, santitary matters, - in short with all the multifarous details of municipal and even of private life."
[1]
"The Venetian constitution in fact froze in the form it attained early in the fourteenth century and survived externally unaltered until the demise of the Republic in 1797." [2] "Its republican constitution, which took shape in the late thirteenth century ... stood for five hundred years, until its fall to Napoleon on 12 May 1797." [3] "Leze might at first appear a term both clear and neutral, but if we stop to consider the ways in which it was translated, the multiple realities this term might encompass (i.e., collections of statutes of the subject cities, customary laws, and a generally regulative idea of justice, charged with ethnical and religious meanings) and the close identification of leze and the defense of legality with the republican constitution, that first and oversimplified perception is replaced by the awareness of a far more complex system." [4] "On the one hand, the Roman law-based tradition of terraferma statutes, sources of law in general, and judicial practice was a tradition much dependent on the legal expertise of jurists organic to local elites. On the other hand, Venice’s own, separate legal and judicial tradition was characterized by the space for empirical, informal, ’political criteria of equity in judging and by assignment of judicial posts to patricians with no legal training. Though much mainland judging remained the business of local courts with local judges, the uneasy reconciliation of these thwo approaches was evident in the dual options of mainland governors: they an entourage of legal professionals, judging by local law, but were also empowered to override the usual priority in sources of law. ... Local statutory traditions continued essentially intact, with periodic renewal of statues subject to Venetian approval, which entailed no drastic interference. Such codes were generally not significantly updated by new laws formulated by mainland legislators once under Venetian dominion, nor did they include as statutory norms the heterogeneous accumulation of Venetian laws and rulings, referred to single territories or (more rarely) to the whole of the mainland." [5] [1]: (? 1902, 263) ?. Chapter VIII. Venice. A W Ward. G W Prothero. Stanley Leathes. eds. 1902. The Cambridge Modern History. Volume I. The Renaissance. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (McNeill 1986, 46) William H McNeill. 1986. Venice: The Hinge of Europe, 1081-1797. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. [3]: (Martin and Romano 2000, 1) John Martin. Dennis Romano. Reconsidering Venice. John Martin. Dennis Romano. eds. 2000. Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State 1297-1797. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. [4]: (Viggiano 2014, 54) Alfredo Viggiano. Politics and Constitution. Eric Dursteler. ed. 2014. A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797. BRILL. Leiden. [5]: (Knapton 2014, 98) Michael Knapton. The Terraferma State. Eric Dursteler. ed. 2014. A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797. BRILL. Leiden. |
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"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche."
[1]
"no evidence of a formal specialized legal system"
[2]
[1]: (Frellesvig 2010, 11) [2]: Interview with Mark Hudson by Thomas Currie, 7/4/2017 in Shizuoka, Japan |
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unknown for previous polity.
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’Justice was administered according to principles about which we have little detailed information, though certainly such Indian texts as the Manusmrti lowboy were known. The king was recognised as the final court of appeal and final authority in law. Before a case reached the king, it might go through various lower courts; inscriptions frequently mention officials who appear to have functions connected with courts of law.’
[1]
’The Sanskrit poems proclaim the grandeur of kings; the Khmer inscriptions exhibit the precision with which jurisdictional squabbles were prosecuted and slaves registered.’
[2]
’As in the rest of the Indic world, the Angkor state and empire were government by rules laid down in the Code of Manu, a great compendium of Brahmanic law probably composed around the 4th century BC. [...] Every judicial act was theoretically inscribed on stone as well as on plaques of gold, silver or copper. The Khmer king was the defender of the law and order in Cambodia. His law courts, present on every administrative level right down tot he village, instituted criminal proceedings against transgressors and guaranteed the integrity of landholdings and the settling of boundary problems. Not even religious institutions such as temples were immune, sine they as well as private individuals could be sued over land.’
[3]
’Indian notions of kingship, which included the erection of commemorative stelae, architectural and art styles, the legal code, the use of a script, and the Hindu religion were selectively and skillfully woven into the emerging state-like polities of Cambodia.’
[4]
’The contents of Khmer temple libraries which may have been reproduced over the centuries, and the Khmer language royal chronicles, for which we have some evidence, are no longer extant (Jacques and Dumont [1990]1999: 17-18). This situation contrasts with that in some other parts of tropical Southeast Asia, where non-temple documents produced several hundred years ago still exist, having either been written on lasting materials such as copper plate or continuously reproduced (e.g. Wisseman 1977: 198-199; Aung Thwin 1985: 8-12; Wisseman Christie 1993: 180-181). These are sometimes able to provide alternative views of the society in which they were produced and can be compared with the temple inscription texts. In Burma, for example, the availability of a variety of historical text types (government archives, law codes, histories and administrative records, civil codes and chronicles giving narrative accounts) represent contemporary Burmese society somewhat more comprehensively (Aung Thwin 1983: 48; 1985: 8-12).’
[5]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, pp.167-168) [2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 37) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 144) [4]: (Hingham 2012, p. 184) [5]: (Lustig 2009, p. 109) |
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’Justice was administered according to principles about which we have little detailed information, though certainly such Indian texts as the Manusmrti lowboy were known. The king was recognised as the final court of appeal and final authority in law. Before a case reached the king, it might go through various lower courts; inscriptions frequently mention officials who appear to have functions connected with courts of law.’
[1]
’The Sanskrit poems proclaim the grandeur of kings; the Khmer inscriptions exhibit the precision with which jurisdictional squabbles were prosecuted and slaves registered.’
[2]
’As in the rest of the Indic world, the Angkor state and empire were government by rules laid down in the Code of Manu, a great compendium of Brahmanic law probably composed around the 4th century BC. [...] Every judicial act was theoretically inscribed on stone as well as on plaques of gold, silver or copper. The Khmer king was the defender of the law and order in Cambodia. His law courts, present on every administrative level right down tot he village, instituted criminal proceedings against transgressors and guaranteed the integrity of landholdings and the settling of boundary problems. Not even religious institutions such as temples were immune, sine they as well as private individuals could be sued over land.’
[3]
’Indian notions of kingship, which included the erection of commemorative stelae, architectural and art styles, the legal code, the use of a script, and the Hindu religion were selectively and skillfully woven into the emerging state-like polities of Cambodia.’
[4]
’The contents of Khmer temple libraries which may have been reproduced over the centuries, and the Khmer language royal chronicles, for which we have some evidence, are no longer extant (Jacques and Dumont [1990]1999: 17-18). This situation contrasts with that in some other parts of tropical Southeast Asia, where non-temple documents produced several hundred years ago still exist, having either been written on lasting materials such as copper plate or continuously reproduced (e.g. Wisseman 1977: 198-199; Aung Thwin 1985: 8-12; Wisseman Christie 1993: 180-181). These are sometimes able to provide alternative views of the society in which they were produced and can be compared with the temple inscription texts. In Burma, for example, the availability of a variety of historical text types (government archives, law codes, histories and administrative records, civil codes and chronicles giving narrative accounts) represent contemporary Burmese society somewhat more comprehensively (Aung Thwin 1983: 48; 1985: 8-12).’
[5]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, pp.167-168) [2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 37) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 144) [4]: (Hingham 2012, p. 184) [5]: (Lustig 2009, p. 109) |
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’Justice was administered according to principles about which we have little detailed information, though certainly such Indian texts as the Manusmrti lowboy were known. The king was recognised as the final court of appeal and final authority in law. Before a case reached the king, it might go through various lower courts; inscriptions frequently mention officials who appear to have functions connected with courts of law.’
[1]
’The Sanskrit poems proclaim the grandeur of kings; the Khmer inscriptions exhibit the precision with which jurisdictional squabbles were prosecuted and slaves registered.’
[2]
’As in the rest of the Indic world, the Angkor state and empire were government by rules laid down in the Code of Manu, a great compendium of Brahmanic law probably composed around the 4th century BC. [...] Every judicial act was theoretically inscribed on stone as well as on plaques of gold, silver or copper. The Khmer king was the defender of the law and order in Cambodia. His law courts, present on every administrative level right down tot he village, instituted criminal proceedings against transgressors and guaranteed the integrity of landholdings and the settling of boundary problems. Not even religious institutions such as temples were immune, sine they as well as private individuals could be sued over land.’
[3]
’Indian notions of kingship, which included the erection of commemorative stelae, architectural and art styles, the legal code, the use of a script, and the Hindu religion were selectively and skillfully woven into the emerging state-like polities of Cambodia.’
[4]
’The contents of Khmer temple libraries which may have been reproduced over the centuries, and the Khmer language royal chronicles, for which we have some evidence, are no longer extant (Jacques and Dumont [1990]1999: 17-18). This situation contrasts with that in some other parts of tropical Southeast Asia, where non-temple documents produced several hundred years ago still exist, having either been written on lasting materials such as copper plate or continuously reproduced (e.g. Wisseman 1977: 198-199; Aung Thwin 1985: 8-12; Wisseman Christie 1993: 180-181). These are sometimes able to provide alternative views of the society in which they were produced and can be compared with the temple inscription texts. In Burma, for example, the availability of a variety of historical text types (government archives, law codes, histories and administrative records, civil codes and chronicles giving narrative accounts) represent contemporary Burmese society somewhat more comprehensively (Aung Thwin 1983: 48; 1985: 8-12).’
[5]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, pp.167-168) [2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 37) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 144) [4]: (Hingham 2012, p. 184) [5]: (Lustig 2009, p. 109) |
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Though practically no direct evidence survives, contemporary writers were clear that the legal system of Carthage was substantially taken from that of Tyre. Additionally, legal codes were used by at least some of the preceding Canaanite cities,
[1]
as well as by the neighboring Israelites.
[1]: Horowitz/Oshima/Vukosavovic (2012). |
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Islamic
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Töro was unwritten traditional legal code. R 2004, K+S 2006.
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Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.
[1]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.
[1]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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The body of Icelandic laws was kept in force during the first few years of Norwegian rule, before being displaced by new legal codes introduced from Norway (the Jarnsída and the Jónsbók): ’The agreement by which Iceland was formally brought under Norwegian rule created only a confederate union, and did not materially change the status of the Icelandic chieftains. They were now to hold their rights from the king, and were forbidden to wage war on each other; but since the Icelandic laws were still in force, the union agreement really involved only an acknowledgment of the king’s sovereignty, and the payment of a small tribute to the crown. It appear from the Icelandic code, the "Jónsbók", adopted in 1280, that the taxes to be paid were very moderate, as the twenty alnar vaomál payable by each freeholder for himself and his household, and by unmarried persons who owned property to the value of ten hundred unincumbered by debts, included also the old tax of thingfararkaup. Only one-half of the whole sum was to be paid to the king. The other half was to be kept in Iceland for the payment of the usual taxes. To the common people the union with Norway brought the distinct advantage of the termination of the bloody conflicts in which they had been forced to take part. Peace was established, and the conviction that henceforth the government would safeguard life and property must have created a new sense of security and well-being. Freedom from lawless terror, established by the altered relation to the mother country, must have been welcomed by the people in general as a new freedom rather than as foreign oppression.’
[1]
’It was quite evident that peaceful conditions could not be maintained in Iceland without important changes in the framework of government and a careful revision of the antiquated system of jurisprudence. King Magnus Lagaboter, who was devoting special attention to the framing of a new code of laws for his kingdom, considered it necessary to bring the Icelandic administration into closer harmony with that of Norway. The stipulation in the "Gamli sáttmáli", or act of union, that the Icelanders should keep their own laws was wholly ignored, and Magnus overtook to frame a new code of laws for Iceland based on those of Norway, a work in which he was assisted by Sturla Thordsson. The new code, the "Jarnsida", erroneously called "Hákonsbók", was brought to Iceland in 1271 by Sturla, accompanied by the king’s hirdmadr Eindride Böngull. The code was a hasty compilation of Norwegian laws, containing many provisions wholly unsuited to conditions in Iceland, while important chapters of the Icelandic code seem to have been overlooked.’
[2]
’It may have been the many faults of the "Jarnsída" which led King Magnus Lagaboter to prepare a new code for Iceland, the "Jónsbók", which was brought to Iceland in 1280 by the lawman Jon Einarsson and the royal commissioner Lodin Lepp. It is possible that Jon Einarsson, and possibly also Hrafn Oddsson and Thorvard Thorarinsson assisted the king in preparing this code, as they were in Norway in the year 1278-1279. Hrafn Oddsson, who received the title of royal merkismadr (standardbearer), was now to exercise authority over all Iceland. Some of the provisions in the new code met with opposition, but after much discussion it was adopted in 1281, the revision of the objectionable articles being left to the king’s own good will. The new law reduced the number of the members of the Althingto eighty-four, and established the title sýslumadr for the royal district magistrates in Iceland. It adhered as closely as possible to to the new Norwegian laws, the "Code of Magnus Lagaboter", prepared a few years previous. The work was greatly superior to the "Jarnsída". It proved very satisfactory, and remained in force ill in the nineteenth century.’
[3]
According to Karlsson, the Jónsbók contributed to the maintenance of a degree of jurisdictional autonomy on the island: ’The Icelanders also received two new law codes during Magnus’ reign. In 1271 the king sent to Iceland a new legal code known as Járnsída (Ironside), followed by another book which bears the name of its main author, Jón Einarsson, Jónsbók (Jón’s Book). But, contrary to developments in Norway, this second revision led Iceland further from conformity with Norwegian law. Jónsbók was admittedly based largely on Norwegian law, but it was drawn up for Iceland alone, and it remained in force there for four to five centuries, while Norwegian law underwent many revisions. Jónsbók thus made Iceland a separate jurisdictional area under royal rule. Iceland’s system of government was radically altered by Járnsída and Jónsbók. Alpingi continued to meet, but the Law Council, which had been a legislative body, became primarily a court of law. The four regional courts, the Fifth court and the spring assemblies were abolished; new officials, lögmenn (lawmen) and sýslumenn (district commissioners) presided over regional court proceedings as required. Iceland was also assigned its own administrative officials. Around 1300 a demand was first put forward at Alpingi that Icelanders of the old chieftain clans should be apointed royal representatives in Iceland. For centuries after this, most administrative offices were held by Icelanders. Only the office of governor (hirdstjóri), the supreme royal official in Iceland, was held by foreigners as often as Icelanders.’
[4]
Legal practice became more formalized, and wrongdoers now had to answer to a third party, embodied by the Norwegian crown and its representatives: ’These new codes wrought a fundamental change in the conception of positive law as well as in legal practice in Iceland. The old court procedures with its intricacies and formalities was replaced by the simpler Norwegian system. The king was ruler and lawgiver was regarded as the source of justice, and behind the laws now stood the royal authority, ready to execute the decrees of the courts even against the most powerful offenders. Violation of the law was no longer viewed as a private affair to be settled by the offender and the party injured, but as a crime for which the wrong-doer had to answer to the government. The fines to be paid and other punishments to be inflicted were still to be determined by twelve men according to ancient usage. The old punishment of banishment for serious offenses was retained, but fines payable to the king were instituted in numerous cases, and capital punishment was to be inflicted for grave crimes, like murder, robbery, rape, counterfeiting, forgery, and seduction. Other severe punishments were also established. [...] But care had been taken by the lawgiver to guard against hasty action and undue harshness in the treatment of wrong-doers. In a chapter about legal decisions he advises the judges to consider carefully truth, justice, patience and mercy, in order that their decisions not bear the marks of cruelty and hatred. [...] The first lawmen appointed under the new law were Stural Thordsson and Jon Einarsson. The first royal magistrates who received the title of sýslumadr were Hrafn Oddsson in western Iceland, and Thorvard Thorarinsson for the southern and eastern districts, and Asgrim Thorsteinsson in the south-western districts. Others may have been appointed, but their names are not known. In 1279 Hrafn Oddsson became royal merkismadr with authority over all Iceland, as already noted.’
[5]
With the new codes the legal and political institutions on the island were reformed: ’Some of the most important parts of the code were, nevertheless, sanctioned already in 1271, as the thingfararbölkr, or constitution of the thing, the thegngildi, or laws governing the payment of fines to the king in cases of murder of freemen, and a part of the arfabölkr, or laws about inheritance. The remaining portions of the code received sanction in 1272 ad 1273. The introduction of this code wrought a fundamental change in the Icelandic constitution and jurisprudence. Norwegian law had been substituted for the old Icelandic code, the "Grágás"; the godords were abolished, so also the characteristic features of the Althing: the fjordungsdómar, the fimtardómr, and the office of lögsögumadr. The thing system was reorganized according to Norwegian pattern. The valdsmadr should choose a certain number of men from each thing district, 140 in all, to constitute the thing, and from these the lawman should select three from each thing district, in all-thirty-six, to sit in the lögrétta. Instead of the lögsögumadr there should be a lawman, after 1277 two lawmen, as in Norway. Royal officials and representatives of the crown should preside over the Althing and take part in its decisions.’
[6]
Lawmen were appointed by the king: ’The willingness of the king to grant privileges to the church hitherto denied reveals a growing indifference of the Norwegian government to the real welfare of Iceland. An administration by royal officials had been established as a result of the union. Two lawmen were appointed by the king, one for the southern and eastern, and one for the western and northern quarters; sýslumenn were appointed as administrative officials for larger districts, as in Norway, and hirdstjórar were placed as royal governors over the island. But Iceland was now treated so much like other dependencies that the chief interest of the government was to secure from its inhabitants revenues for the royal purse. Víseyrir, or taxes payable to the king, were levied upon the whole country, and became a definite income payable to the king’s purse, like the taxes from the Norwegian colonies. This system of taxation gave rise to a royal monopoly on trade with the colonies which proved disastrous to their economic well-being, and hindered their progress. The royal officials usually asserted the authority of the government with stern harshness, and severe punishments for crimes were introduced. In some cases criminals were even buried alive; but law and order were but imperfectly maintained. Even the higher officials themselves would engage in quarrels which sometimes resembled the bloody feuds of earlier periods.’
[7]
Ecclesiastic authorities issued their own legal codes: ’His chief aim at this time was to obtain royal sanction for the enforcement of Archbishop John’s code of church laws, especially with regard to the payment of tithes and other church dues. This code was almost identical with that of Bishop Arni of Skálholt, which granted the church extensive privileges. The king’s consent was given in a royal letter issued October 19, 1354, commanding that the church laws in force in southern Iceland should also be in operation in the Hólar diocese. For the first time this code of church laws had now received the formal sanction of the king.’
[8]
[1]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 208 [2]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 213p [3]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 215 [4]: Karlsson, Gunnar 2000. "A Brief History of Iceland", 18p [5]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 215pp [6]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 214 [7]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 239p [8]: Gjerset, Knut [1924]. "History of Iceland", 238 |
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|
There probably was no formal legal code as writing was not developed until the arrival of the Spanish. "There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish., notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms."
[1]
[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236) |
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|
SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ Local law was informal: ’There is a word igege (Binandele yege) which may be translated ‘moral law’, or perhaps, since the examples are all negative, ‘moral prohibition’. The examples were such as the following: not to steal a man’s vegetables, canoes, spears, &c.; not to usurp his fishing rights; not to take his dog to hunt, but to drive it back if it followed the hunter of its own accord; not to commit adultery; not to beat one’s wife overmuch; not to commit assault on another man. These igege were for adults; they did not apply to children, who had to be treated with so much indulgence; still less to dogs, whose nature it was to steal on sight. While not implying standardization, the mere existence of the word hints at a definite conception of right and wrong.’
[1]
’There are customary restrictions upon feuding within the tribe, which exist in sharp contrast to the standard acceptance and formalization of hostility between tribes. Formerly, official legal penalties, generally violent, were meted out to criminals. Fear of the ancestors and desire to avoid unfavorable public opinion remain the major mechanisms of social control.’
[2]
Local mechanisms remained important even after colonization: ’For those who remain in the village, the sanctioning mechanisms are mostly informal. Failure in one’s obligations means loss of status, leads to gossip, derogatory remarks to one’s face, perhaps even a harangue at night by a man at the other end in the village. The councillor, the court and the police are only a last resort in serious quarrels. I saw a councillor enter a dispute once, playing a mediating role between disputants from two villages, but without playing more than an advisory role. One quarrel was taken to court, but this was not a case where traditional mechanisms of social control had failed. A woman accused her husband of adultery with one of the new Garombi arrivals. She and the husband fought and had to be separated as the lady had an axe; the domestic dispute soon died down but the Garombi woman laid a complaint for slander with the police. Before this came to court, the wife had been roundly condemned by almost everyone in the village; she had repented, had gone round the village to signify her regrets, and been as contrite as her pride could possibly allow her to be. The court let her off with a reprimand. The episode, far from suggesting a flagging of Orokaiva traditional social control, had demonstrated to me that it was still effective. Nonetheless, the Orokaiva, as so many other peoples in contact with Western civilisation, have been quick to see the advantages of a judicial system providing an impartial arbiter in disputes, to whose decisions both parties will defer. At the moment, this western judicial system is an additional resource of Orokaiva law, without undermining its existing institutions.’
[3]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray 1930. “Orokaiva Society”, 323 [2]: Latham, Christopher S.: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Orokaiva [3]: Schwimmer, Eric G. 1969. “Cultural Consequences Of A Volcanic Eruption Experienced By The Mount Lamington Orokaiva”, 182p |
||||||
|
SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ Local law was informal: ’There is a word igege (Binandele yege) which may be translated ‘moral law’, or perhaps, since the examples are all negative, ‘moral prohibition’. The examples were such as the following: not to steal a man’s vegetables, canoes, spears, &c.; not to usurp his fishing rights; not to take his dog to hunt, but to drive it back if it followed the hunter of its own accord; not to commit adultery; not to beat one’s wife overmuch; not to commit assault on another man. These igege were for adults; they did not apply to children, who had to be treated with so much indulgence; still less to dogs, whose nature it was to steal on sight. While not implying standardization, the mere existence of the word hints at a definite conception of right and wrong.’
[1]
’For those who remain in the village, the sanctioning mechanisms are mostly informal. Failure in one’s obligations means loss of status, leads to gossip, derogatory remarks to one’s face, perhaps even a harangue at night by a man at the other end in the village. The councillor, the court and the police are only a last resort in serious quarrels. I saw a councillor enter a dispute once, playing a mediating role between disputants from two villages, but without playing more than an advisory role. One quarrel was taken to court, but this was not a case where traditional mechanisms of social control had failed. A woman accused her husband of adultery with one of the new Garombi arrivals. She and the husband fought and had to be separated as the lady had an axe; the domestic dispute soon died down but the Garombi woman laid a complaint for slander with the police. Before this came to court, the wife had been roundly condemned by almost everyone in the village; she had repented, had gone round the village to signify her regrets, and been as contrite as her pride could possibly allow her to be. The court let her off with a reprimand. The episode, far from suggesting a flagging of Orokaiva traditional social control, had demonstrated to me that it was still effective. Nonetheless, the Orokaiva, as so many other peoples in contact with Western civilisation, have been quick to see the advantages of a judicial system providing an impartial arbiter in disputes, to whose decisions both parties will defer. At the moment, this western judicial system is an additional resource of Orokaiva law, without undermining its existing institutions.’
[2]
But legal codes were introduced by the colonial authorities: ’When the Papuan Act was passed in 1905 by the Australian Commonwealth Parliament, it provided a legal framework for the Australian Administration in the whole of the Territory, of which Northern Division was a part. Ordinances whose provisions had a particular relevance for Northern Division were those that imposed a tax and made cash cropping, carrying and roadbuilding compulsory.’
[3]
’Part of the setting up of a governmental organization was the establishment of gaols and the punishment of villagers who infringed the laws and regulations. By 1903, 100 Orokaivans had been committed for trial on charges ranging from murder to breach of school regulations. Kokoda gaol alone had seventy-nine prisoners in 1905 and 168 in 1906. Speaking of one of the groups who inhabited Northern Division, Wetherell observes that this time they had ‘brushed with a tribe they could never conquer’’
[4]
As indicated, native villagers were subject to legal codes established by the colonial authorities and tried according to them.
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray 1930. “Orokaiva Society”, 323 [2]: Schwimmer, Eric G. 1969. “Cultural Consequences Of A Volcanic Eruption Experienced By The Mount Lamington Orokaiva”, 182p [3]: Newton, Janice 1985. “Orokaiva Production And Change", 34 [4]: Newton, Janice 1985. “Orokaiva Production And Change”, 32p |
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|
Sakha trials were based on prior agreements between the contending parties rather than codified law: ’Agreements and contracts, both written and oral, are taken as a basis for all trials and settlements; therefore, if there is no quarrel about the contents of an agreement, the decision is quick, but if anyone refuses to abide by an agreement, and it was oral, his opponent may prove it with witnesses, and, if there are no witnesses, the quarrel is decided by an oath.’
[1]
’“As a nation they are unsocial, litigious, and vindictive. An injury received by one of them is very rarely forgotten, and, if he cannot revenge it himself, he will leave the feud to his son. Their passion for litigation is excessive: they will frequently undertake difficult and expensive journeys, in a cause where perhaps the matter in dispute is not of the value of a rouble. Their unsocial dispo-sition, which leads them to prefer settling by single families at a distance from each other, is strikingly contrasted with the cheerful and ready hospitality which they show to strangers. They very seldom settle in communities, and it is only along the route from Jakuzk to the Aldan, where the country is more populous, that such settlements are now and then to be met with; but beyond the Werchojansk chain, the solitary jurti are often hundreds of wersts apart, so that the nearest neighbours may not see each other for years. Such distances are far greater than can be required on account of pasture, and are rather to be ascribed to the disposition which leads them to seek solitude, and to avoid all social intercourse.”’
[2]
Criminal cases were transferred to courts applying Russian law only after 1889: ’Nevertheless until very r ecently and even criminal cases such as beatings, personal injury, and thefts, even for a considerable amount, as long as a house was not broken into, were judged by the clan administration. Only from the year 1889, when an order came out to proceed against the trible authorities if they did not communicate such matters, have thefts begun to be referred to the Russian courts and judged according to Russian laws. For theft the Yakut usually punished wealthy people by a fine which was two or three times the value of the stolen article, depending on the circumstances. For beatings and personal injuries they sentenced the guilty party to support the injured party during his disablement or to pay him a lump sum. Now the guilty are put in prison, and to the great horror of their neighbors they usually leave out and out scoundrels. Such crimes as the violation of women, the breaking of agreements, fraud, and forgery were apparently unknown to the Yakut nd went unpunished. But the violation of the wedding agreement was provided for by the kalym. At the present time most of the cases and statements of claim which come before the clan administrations concern the violation of boundary lines and various disputed lands.’
[3]
[1]: Samokvasov, D. I. A. 1876. “Collection Of Customary Law Of The Siberian Natives", 28 [2]: Wrangel, baron, Ferdinand Petrovich, and Edward Sabine Sir 1842. “Narrative Of An Expedition To The Polar Sea, In The Years 1820, 1821, 1822, & 1823”, 39 [3]: Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 798 |
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unknown.
|
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|
There is no evidence that would surely confirm the existence of a legal code in Anatolian kingdoms in second millenium BC. However, researchers have investigated legal transaction texts from Kültepe, and deduced some single roles, such as obligatory services of arhalüm and unuššum. There is also some indication concerning people or group of people, who were responsible for supervising performance of some obligatory services.
[1]
[1]: Dercksen J. G. 2004. Some Elements of Old Anatolian Society in Kaniš. [in:] J. G. Dercksen (ed.) Assyria and beyond: studies presented to Mogens Trolle Larsen. Leiden: NINO, pg. 137-174 |
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Codex Theodosianus, Codex Justinianus
|
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|
A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
Writing c200 CE "Papinian, perhaps the authority on law most respected in late antiquity, listed the sources of the ius civile as statutes (leges), popular resolutions (plebiscita), senatorial enactments (senatusconsulta), decrees of emperors (decreta principum) and the authoritative pronouncements of men learned in law, the jurists (auctoritas prudentium). To these was added the ius honorarium, the law contained in the Edict of the praetor, who, under the Republic and Early Empire administered law in Rome; this form of law derived its name from the praetor’s magistracy (honos) and was held to ’assist, supplement or amend’ the ius civile.". [3] Under-Diocletian, Codex Gregorianus (291 CE) - which contained constitutions and rescripts from Hadrian to Diocletian - and Codex Hermogenianus (c295 CE) - which contained supplementary material - became semi-official collections of law. Their authors had access to imperial chancery and the codes were considered authoritative by courts. [4] Throughout the imperial period a new body of law called ius novum developed [5] under the influence of Christianity which replaced the ius vetus. However, law-making was in general unstructured and confused. In 435 CE a commission was appointed to collate all constitutions since Constantine (numbering 3000 constitutions from 312 to 438 CE). The new compendium was published in 438 CE as Codex Theodosianus. [6] Private law (e.g. family law) came increasingly under the jurisdiction of the Christian church. [7] During this period Mousourakis believes the Emperor’s law-making powers grew substantially Emperor was the source of all laws and the interpretation of the laws. By fourth century CE, "sovereignty of the Roman people deemed to be transferred to the emperor, who existed as the sole authority in all spheres of government: legislative, administrative, judicial, military". [8] Jurisprudence plummeted as Emperor became sole source of law. [8] ius civile and ius honararium became no longer distinct [8] There was a move away from law by precedent (previous cases) to law by general rules [8] "Judges had lost the freedom and even the ability to engage in creative thinking and form independent judgements." [9] [1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) [3]: (Harries 2001, 11) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [4]: (Mousourakis 2007, 179) [5]: (http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195369380.001.0001/acref-9780195369380-e-1151) [6]: (Mousourakis 2007, 181) [7]: (Mousourakis 2007, 161) [8]: (Mousourakis 2007) [9]: (Mousourakis 2007, 163) |
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Sharia law.
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"The statute-book, the judiciary, and courts of law with their prisons and instruments of punishment, were unknown"
[1]
.
[1]: J. Monette, History of the discovery and settlement of the valley of the Mississippi, by the three great European powers, Spain, France, and Great Britain (1971 [c. 1846]), p. 191 |
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According to L.H. Morgan, there was no formal penal code: ’Crimes and offences were so unfrequent under their social system, that the Iroquois can scarcely be said to have had a criminal code. Yet there were certain misdemeanors which fell under the judicial cognizance of the sachems, and were punished by them in proportion to their magnitude. Witchcraft was punishable with death. Any person could take the life of a witch when discovered in the act. If this was not done, a council was called, and the witch arraigned before it, in the presence of the accuser. A full confession, with a promise of amendment, secured a discharge. But if the accusation was denied, witnesses were called and examined concerning the circumstances of the case; and if they established the charge to the satisfaction of the council, which they rarely failed to do, condemnation followed, with a sentence of death. The witch was then delivered over to such executioners as volunteered for the purpose, and by them was led away to punishment. After the decision of the council, the relatives of the witch gave him up to his doom without a murmur.’
[1]
But according to Lyford, there was an orally transmitted constitution validated by wampum beads: ’The League of the Iroquois was governed by a carefully worked out constitution that was transmitted orally from one generation to another by certain leaders (lords or sachems) whose business it was to learn and to recite the laws and regulations. For many generations these laws and regulations were recorded in a collection of wampum belts and strings, twenty-five of which are preserved today in the New York State Museum, whose director has been proclaimed “the keeper of the wampums.”’
[2]
During the reservation period, Iroquois law was subject to increasing formalization: ’Iroquois legal procedure during the reservation period was marked by the absence of symbols. Wampum which had extensive symbolic connotations, both in religious and civil procedures, was used in legal convocations only to convene the judicial body. In the longhouse, wampum validated the confessions of religious performers, but in the trials conducted by the Confederate Council no use of wampum was made to validate the testimony given by litigants. One instance was cited of a trial for murder being conducted in the provincial courts at Brantford wherein the accused, a Six Nations Indian, refused to take an oath upon the Bible and requested that the Council wampum be brought to court for the purpose of validating his oath. It may be suggested that writing had produced new legal symbols such as wills and quit claim deeds. The succeeding chapters will develop in detail the coordination of reservation society by the government of the Confederacy.’
[3]
’The legislative enactments of the Council represent in content an adequate means of coordinating reservation society with particular stress on the regulation of economic activity. The formulation of laws does not of itself assure the coordination of societal activity. Ethical values, as a rule, are not at issue in regulatory legislation, and deprived of the weight of ethical sanction, their enforcement depends heavily upon compulsive mechanisms. The Council, by exercise of its appointive powers, had created an adequate personnel to enforce its legislation. If any weakness existed, it was the neglect to include in their legislation the penalties to be assessed against violators.’
[4]
But according to Campisi, local decision-making still heavily relied on communal deliberation rather than formal law, although the legal texts used by Canadian and American authorities became more and more relevant to reservation life: ’The council of sachems exercised little power on thereservation, its primary function being to mediate disputes.Issues of general concern were handled in openmeetings at which all band members were eligible toparticipate. Issues were discussed until the band membersarrived at a general agreement or consensus. Failing this,the issue was simply set aside. After Canadian confederationin 1867 the Canadian Department of Indian Affairsexerted increased influence in the affairs of the Oneidas.When the general council of the Oneidas was unable to resolve an issue it was passed on by the agent, with hisdescription of the facts and sometimes a recommendation,to the department, which usually decided thequestion by applying the appropriate section of theIndian Act (A. Ricciardelli 1961:44-90).’
[5]
[1]: Morgan, Lewis Henry, and Herbert M. Lloyd 1901. “League Of The Ho-De’-No-Sau-Nee Or Iroquois. Vol. I”, 321 [2]: Lyford, Carrie A. 1945. “Iroquois Crafts”, 9b [3]: Noon, John A. 1949. “Law And Government Of The Grand River Iroquois”, 43 [4]: Noon, John A. 1949. “Law And Government Of The Grand River Iroquois”, 59 [5]: Campisi, Jack 1978. “Oneida”, 488 |
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There was a body of customary law governing rights to water, fishing, and land
[1]
. But there were no written records, so this legal code probably cannot be called ‘formal’.
[1]: Kuykendall, Ralph S. 1968[1938]. The Hawaiian Kingdom, Volume 1: 1778-1854, Foundation and Transformation. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 10. |
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A legal code was inherited from conquered areas, but it is unclear if this was actually practiced.
[1]
Shari’a law functioned at a local level, but an overarching legal structure was not present given the fractured nature of the empire and the focus on coercive extraction. Legal rights seem to have been, like the late Mugals, restricted to Muslims. Unbelievers were to be kept subdued, and be made to pay the traditional poll tax. [2] In legitimizing their conquest, the Durrani seem to have followed the Sunni school of law of maḏāhib. The presence of Shiite practioners in Khorasan seem to have been tolerated. Pitshtunwali, a legal and moral code that determines social order and responsibilities in Pashtun culture was at odds with the formalized Islamic code, having existed before the islamic conquest of the 7th century and enduring to the present day in the Pashtun border regions. [3] [1]: Black, Antony. The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present. Edinburgh University Press, 2011. pp. 252-255 [2]: Black, Antony. The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present. Edinburgh University Press, 2011. p. 54 [3]: Gommans, Jos J.L. The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780. Vol. 8. Brill, 1995. p. 54 |
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The Greek legal code seems to have been in practice in the other Greek successor states.
[1]
In terms of the details of how this would have been administered, we have little information for the entire region. Surviving legal documents come from a much later date.
[1]: Tarn, William Woodthorpe. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press, 2010. p. 63 |
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There is textual evidence of cases being decided, as well as references to the first King being steadfast in the law.
[1]
"The Mat inscription of Huvishka refers to him as ’steadfast in the true law’, a title also borne by the first Kushan king, Kujula Kadphises on his coins." [2] [1]: Harmatta, János, B. N. Puri, and G. F. Etemadi. History of Civilizations in Central Asia. Volume II: The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations pp. 252-255, 411-412; Subramaniam, V. "The administrative legacy of ancient India." International Journal of Public Administration 21, no. 1 (1998): 87-108. [2]: (Puri 1994, 252) Puri, B. N. The Kushans. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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"In terms of legal systems, its implement and practical application in the dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou had all centered on the will of the monarchs. As a result, the law was overtopped by the imperial power, and both law and punishment were made by the rulers. For example, the law of the Xia Dynasty was generously referred to as Yu Xing (The Penal Code of Yu), which was named after the emperor."
[1]
"The evolution of China’s customary law into codified law occurred during the Warring States Period (770 BCE to 256 BCE). During that period successive warlords would each codify and publish their own sets of laws according to the needs of society." [2] -- this variable requires that the law be written down. Customary law can be written down. [1]: (Zhang 2014, 154) Zhang, Jinfan. 2014. The Tradition and Modern Transition of Chinese Law. Springer Science & Business Media. [2]: (Liang 2010, XI) Liang, Huixing. 2010. The Draft Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China: English Translation (Prepared by the Legislative Research Group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. |
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"In the late Spring and Autumn Period, the legal system had reached a turning point - provisions of punishments changed into a systematic code, which came to be recorded on two occasions: the State of Zhen had the penal code prepared by Zi Chan inscribed onto bamboo tablets (536 BC); the State of Jin had the penal code prepared by Zhao Yang inscribed onto tripods (513 BC)."
[1]
[1]: (Zhang 2015, 143) Zhang, Qizhi. 2015. An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture. Springer. |
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The legal code drawn up in the time of the Hongwu Emperor was considered one of the great achievements of the era. The code was known as Ta-Ming lu (大明律). The Ta-Ming lu, which comprised criminal and administrative as well as civil law, was divided under seven main heads
[1]
[1]: (Chan, c1982, p.33-35) [2]: (Pletcher 2010, 197) |
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French customary law not written down until 13th century. "Roman and canon law provided the inspiration for this activity. Customary law varied from one region of France to another, and the writing of such law took place within regional or provincial boundaries."
[1]
Autonomous urban governments developed a legal system "neither feudal, Roman, norcustomary, that administered the legal needs of the urban population" [1] [1]: (Pegues 1995, 1005-1010) |
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Based on the legal code of the T’ang period.
[1]
Later Chou produced the Penal conspectus of the Great Chou (Ta Chou hsing-t’ung) 957 CE which "formed the foundation for the later Sung penal conspectus (Sung hsing-t’ung)". The Chou document "was basically a reissuing of the T’ang code and commentary of 737, with the addition of a few edicts from later periods." [2] "At the beginning of the Sung eight principal collections of law were in use, four from the T’ang period, two from the Later T’ang, and two from the Later Chou, but the centerpiece of the legal system, and the chief source of penal rules, was the twenty-one chapter Ta Chou hsing-t’ung, which had been put into practice in 958." [3] T’ai tsu revised the Ta Chou hsing-t’ung code into "the thirty chapter Sung penal conspectus (Sung hsing-t’ung), also known as the Chung hsiang ting hsing-t’ung, the ’Re-examined and redetermined collected penal laws." [3] [1]: (McKnight 2015, 250) [2]: (McKnight 2015, 252) [3]: (McKnight 2015, 254) |
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|
"The Jin code (known as the Taishi code) dominated the legal systems of the Northern Wei and the Southern Dynasties."
[1]
Taihe Reforms 472-492 CE "included procedures for evaluating and promoting regional and local officials; graded official salaries; a law code..." [2] [1]: (Xiong 2009, 289) [2]: (Dardess, J W. 2010. Governing China: 150-1850. Hackett Publishing. p.14) |
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Judging from the following quotes, it would seem that, prior to the Zhou, there was no difference between the law and the king’s will.
"In terms of legal systems, its implement and practical application in the dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou had all centered on the will of the monarchs. As a result, the law was overtopped by the imperial power, and both law and punishment were made by the rulers. For example, the law of the Xia Dynasty was generously referred to as Yu Xing (The Penal Code of Yu), which was named after the emperor.""The law of Shang Dynasty was generously named "Tang Xing" (The Penal Code of Tang)." [1] "The law of Shang Dynasty was generously named "Tang Xing" (The Penal Code of Tang)." [1] "All the national activities, such as punitive expeditions, sacrifices, etc., were named "Wang Shi" (the king’s affairs) to suggest that the king was the state, and that the king and the state were an organic whole. In the oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty on tortoise shells or animal bones, the words like "Wang Ming" (the king’s commands), "Wang Ling" (the king’s orders), and "Wang Hu" (the king’s words) can be found repeatedly, which had indicated that the national affairs were conducted according to the orders of king who not only had the supreme administrative and military power, but the supreme legislative and judicial power." [2] "The evolution of China’s customary law into codified law occurred during the Warring States Period (770 BCE to 256 BCE). During that period successive warlords would each codify and publish their own sets of laws according to the needs of society." [3] -- this variable requires that the law be written down. Customary law can be written down. [1]: (Zhang 2014, 154) Zhang, Jinfan. 2014. The Tradition and Modern Transition of Chinese Law. Springer Science & Business Media. [2]: (Zhang 2014, 153) Zhang, Jinfan. 2014. The Tradition and Modern Transition of Chinese Law. Springer Science & Business Media. [3]: (Liang 2010, XI) Liang, Huixing. 2010. The Draft Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China: English Translation (Prepared by the Legislative Research Group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. |
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|
583 CE: "The Kai-huang Code ... was promulgated."
[1]
"Wendi also sponsored a major revision of the law, which resulted in the promulgation of the Kaihuang Code, which has been described as ’a remarkable synthesis of the legal traditions of the age of disunity’, which proved to be the model for the Tang legal code and thereafter of the successive legal codes of imperial China." [2] More detail Xiong 2006 pages 135-141. [3] "Starting with the Northern Qi dynasty (550-77) the most serious unpardonable "Ten Evil Crimes" (shi eh) were formally entered in the law Beiqi Lu (Sui shu: ch. 25). These were also codified in the laws of the Sui and Tang dynasties, followed by all succeeding dynasties, and continued to be in effect until the twentieth century." [4] [1]: (Xiong 2009, cvi) [2]: (Roberts 1996, 82) [3]: (Xiong 2006) [4]: (Fu 1993, 115) Fu, Zhengyuan. 1993. Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics. Cambridge University Press. |
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|
"Whilst based on those of the preceding dynasties, the T’ang legal code was simplified in comparison with these and was supposedly less serve in its penal provisions, particularly when contrasted with some of the draconian measures which had been introduced by the Sui."
[1]
Emperor Gaozu "set up a legal commission which, building on the Sui achievement, codified the law and administrative statutes in the form which was not only to remain in force until the fourteenth century, but which became the basis of the first legal codes in Vietnam, Korea and Japan." [2] Legal code compiled first in 624 CE. [3] "Starting with the Northern Qi dynasty (550-77) the most serious unpardonable "Ten Evil Crimes" (shi eh) were formally entered in the law Beiqi Lu (Sui shu: ch. 25). These were also codified in the laws of the Sui and Tang dynasties, followed by all succeeding dynasties, and continued to be in effect until the twentieth century." [4] [1]: (Rodzinski 1979, 120) [2]: (Roberts 1996, 87) [3]: (Roberts 1996, 89) [4]: (Fu 1993, 115) Fu, Zhengyuan. 1993. Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics. Cambridge University Press. |
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|
"Whilst based on those of the preceding dynasties, the T’ang legal code was simplified in comparison with these and was supposedly less serve in its penal provisions, particularly when contrasted with some of the draconian measures which had been introduced by the Sui."
[1]
Emperor Gaozu "set up a legal commission which, building on the Sui achievement, codified the law and administrative statutes in the form which was not only to remain in force until the fourteenth century, but which became the basis of the first legal codes in Vietnam, Korea and Japan." [2] [1]: (Rodzinski 1979, 120) [2]: (Roberts 1996, 87) |
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Not discovered.
Few codes known to exist. However, the law system was nationally integrated such that local disputes could be appealed to a higher court. Legal Text of Mose concerns control of land tenure and tax obligations. "In a case that went through five lawsuits over control of, or rights to, disputed land in the Village of Neshi, the plaintive Mose, as descendant of Neshi sought to overturn the judgement of of the Qenbet, "council" or court of magistrates in Memphis." This was the local court that had jurisdiction over the case "at the level of the nome, because Memphis was the capital of the nome in which the disputed land was located." The case moved up to the "Great Qenbet over which the Vizier presided, at national level." [1] Inscriptions record pharaonic decrees on crimes and punishments. Instructions for Merikare, written in Middle Kingdom, "set down basic guidelines for administering justice" and was well known in the New Kingdom. [2] Legal system based on precedent and case law. [3] [1]: (Kohler and Gumerman 2000, 313) [2]: (Hinds 2006, 6) [3]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) |
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|
"The most important codification of Chinese law is the Fa jing (Canon of Law), compiled during the Warring States period by the prime minister of the Wei state Li Kui (455-395 B.C.), who may be called the real founder of the Legalist school ... The compilation of Fa jing was based on the then current laws of the various states and became the prototype of later Chinese imperial codes ... All the legal codes of imperial dynasties, from the Qin code to the Qing code, can be traced to Fa jing. ... There were always minor changes but the basic legal structure remained intact. Even the laws proclaimed during periods of alien rule, like the Mongolian Yuan dynasty and the Manchu Qing dynasty, were no exception."
[1]
"The Legalists were the chief proponents of the use of a penal code to control the people. During the Warring States period, the sovereigns of the various states had little use for morals and rites. They were more concerned with building strong states, strengthening their armies, and enlarging their territories. This can only be realized by being able to keep a submissive people. The Legalists proved more useful for their political aspirations, as they exerted a major influence on Chinese traditional law and legal institutions, which were set up under their direction." [2] [1]: (Fu 1993, 108) Fu, Zhengyuan. 1993. Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics. Cambridge University Press. [2]: (Fu 1993, 107) Fu, Zhengyuan. 1993. Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics. Cambridge University Press. |
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|
Had a system of justice but no law code survives. Legal procedures existed because we know theft was punished.
[1]
"In terms of legal systems, its implement and practical application in the dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou had all centered on the will of the monarchs. As a result, the law was overtopped by the imperial power, and both law and punishment were made by the rulers. For example, the law of the Xia Dynasty was generously referred to as Yu Xing (The Penal Code of Yu), which was named after the emperor.""The law of Shang Dynasty was generously named "Tang Xing" (The Penal Code of Tang)." [2] "The evolution of China’s customary law into codified law occurred during the Warring States Period (770 BCE to 256 BCE). During that period successive warlords would each codify and publish their own sets of laws according to the needs of society." [3] [1]: (Roberts 2003, 14) [2]: (Zhang 2014, 154) Zhang, Jinfan. 2014. The Tradition and Modern Transition of Chinese Law. Springer Science & Business Media. [3]: (Liang 2010, XI) Liang, Huixing. 2010. The Draft Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China: English Translation (Prepared by the Legislative Research Group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. |
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|
"The Mongols apparently introduced greater leniency into the Chinese legal system. The number of capital crimes amounted to 135, less than one-half the number mandated in the Sung dynasty codes. Criminals could, following Mongolian practice, avoid punishment by paying a sum to the government. Khubilai could grant amnesties, and he did so, even to rebels or political enemies. Officials of the provincial or central government routinely reviewed local judicial decisions on serious crimes in order to prevent abuses of the rights of the accused. Because there have not been any careful studies of this code in operation, it is difficult to tell whether these statutory reforms translated into a more lenient and flexible system than under the earlier Chinese dynasties. Yet the legal ideals embodied in this code supported by Khubilai and the Mongols did indeed appear less harsh than earlier Chinese ones."
[1]
[1]: (Rossabi, M. 1994. The reign of Khubilai khan. In Franke, H. and D. Twitchett (eds) The Cambridge History of China, volume 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 710-1368 pp. 414-489. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P. 453-454) |
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|
Caroline Arlte Ed: need to check spelling of surname book on Egyptian code.
[1]
The native Egyptians were keen to overthrow Persian rule so they must have had strong attachment to own culture and the legal code may have been part of this. "After the New Kingdom the kenbet appears to have fallen into disuse. The kenbet a’at (Great Court or Council) is still mentioned in Theban legal proceedings of the Third Intermediate Period, but under the Saite Pharaohs new expressions occur in legal documents. The cursive Hieratic script used for administration and jurisdiction was now replaced by Demotic, and many administrative and legal innovations were introduced. [...] In Demotic the expression awy wepy (lit. ‘‘house of judgement’’) is used for what seems to be a purely judicial institution, a ‘‘court’’ (Allam 1991: 116-17). This is seen as evidence that the formal separation between administration and jurisdiction took place in Egypt as late as the seventh century BC; earlier the kenbet had administrative and judicial functions, but the Demotic ‘‘court’’ was only judicial (Allam 1991: 119). It is difficult to prove that administrative and legal reforms had occurred from what essentially is evidence arising from changes in script and language. Furthermore, it is not at all certain that the kenbet was anything more than judicial, but the Late Period did clearly witness changes in legal practice, such as the growing popularity of written contracts, e.g. the marriage contracts discussed above."
[2]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication) [2]: (Haring 2010, 234-235) |
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|
Instructions for Merikare "set down basic guidelines for administering justice."
[1]
Middle Kingdom prison register "cites variations of the general offence, and in so doing implies the existence of a very detailed code of law". [2] [1]: (Hinds 2006, 6) [2]: (Kemp 1983, 84) Kemp, Barry. "Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period c. 2686-1552 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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"After the dissolution of the Assembly, Marillac was charged with preparing an enormous ordinance, clarifying and regulating virtually every aspect of the relations between crown and subjects. Nicknamed the "code Michaud" after its draughtsman, this was an unwieldy collection of pious hopes, which inevitably contained something to upset almost everybody; all that was lacking was any plausible scheme for enforcing it. ... Like its sixteenth-century predecessors, the code soon became a dead letter in most respects; after Marillac’s disgrace the government openly connived at the evasion of many of its provisions by the courts, while ignoring others itself." (Assembly refers to Assembly of Notables 1626-1627 CE).
[1]
[1]: (Briggs 1998, 95-96) |
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Not discovered.
Few codes known to exist. However, the law system was nationally integrated such that local disputes could be appealed to a higher court. Legal Text of Mose concerns control of land tenure and tax obligations. "In a case that went through five lawsuits over control of, or rights to, disputed land in the Village of Neshi, the plaintive Mose, as descendant of Neshi sought to overturn the judgement of of the Qenbet, "council" or court of magistrates in Memphis." This was the local court that had jurisdiction over the case "at the level of the nome, because Memphis was the capital of the nome in which the disputed land was located." The case moved up to the "Great Qenbet over which the Vizier presided, at national level." [1] Inscriptions record pharaonic decrees on crimes and punishments. Instructions for Merikare, written in Middle Kingdom, "set down basic guidelines for administering justice" and was well known in the New Kingdom. [2] Legal system based on precedent and case law. [3] [1]: (Kohler and Gumerman 2000, 313) [2]: (Hinds 2006, 6) [3]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73) |
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|
There were property laws and formal written legal instruments, though no evidence for a fully articulated legal code.
[1]
No evidence for a formal criminal code
[2]
.
No evidence for a formal criminal code [2] and no evidence for a legal code. [1]: (Baines, John. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email) [2]: (McDowell 2001) |
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’Diagramma of Ptolemy II (270bc)’
Source: discussed most recently in JG Manning, The Last Pharaohs. Princeton, 2010. Follow-up reference Keenan, J G. Manning, J G. Yiftach-Firanko, U. 2014. Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest. A Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introductions and Commentary. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
’Diagramma of Ptolemy II (270bc)’
Source: discussed most recently in JG Manning, The Last Pharaohs. Princeton, 2010. Follow-up reference Keenan, J G. Manning, J G. Yiftach-Firanko, U. 2014. Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest. A Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introductions and Commentary. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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Likely that there were different legal systems in different regions. I.e. Delta region where Hyksos were congregated and the more southerly vassal regions, such as Thebes.
|
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Note: This is the code for Abbasid Caliphate.
[1]
In the Abbasid Caliphate formal the law was promulgated by a body known as the Fuqaha. The law code was heavily influenced by Sharia law. Sharia was based on the Sunna, which were teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Legal thought was also influenced by Ijma’, which were a body of rulings on legal issues based on the consensus of scholars who had met to discuss specific cases. Despite the Caliphate’s claims to religious authority based on their links to the Prophet Muhammed, it was rare for direct rulings on legal matters to originate from the caliphal authorities. Alongside a developing legal code was the development of the Qudis, who were full time judiciary officials. [2] [1]: Van Berkel, Maaike, Nadia Maria El Cheikh, Hugh Kennedy, and Letizia Osti. Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court pp. 87-90 [2]: Zubaida, Sami, Law and power in the Islamic world. (Tauris & Company Limited, 2005) pp. 74-84 |
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|
"The common norms of law that prevailed in the kingdom may be studied in the first juridicial records of Aksum: in the four laws from the Safra (Drewes, p. 73)."
[1]
"Later Ethiopian law followed the Fetha Nagast, ’The Law of the Kings’ written in Arabic by a Copt in the mid-thirteenth century, and translated into Ge’ez perhaps in the middle of the fifteenth century (Tzadua 1968), but inscriptions like that of Safra show that there were earlier legal codes in use (Drewes 1962)." [2] "high-quality grave goods, have been interpreted as those of ’middle-class’ Aksumites ... It might be expected that such a class would include government officials, scribes, priests of temple or church, middle-ranking members of the army, merchants, and perhaps some of the more skilled craftsmen. Amongst such a class there would probably be some foreigners, permitted to live in Ethiopia because of their special skills." [3] [1]: (Kobishanov 1981, 386) Y M. Kobishanov. Aksum: political system, economics and culture, first to fourth century. Muḥammad Jamal al-Din Mokhtar. ed. 1981. UNESCO General History of Africa. Volume II. Heinemann. UNESCO. California. [2]: (Munro-Hay 1991, 252) Stuart C Munro-Hay. 1991. Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. [3]: (Connah 2016, 141) Graham Connah. 2016. African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perspective. Third Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’. According to Bollig, tribal laws were fluid rather than fixed, although the colonial administration increasingly sought to impose its own regulations: ’The main task of the chief is the laying down and execution of the bu[unknown]un fanu, that is, the tribal laws. In practice the bu[unknown] is usually illusory, since nobody wants to follow it. Not for nothing do the Truk people say sarcastically about the conditions on their islands: “ en sob me bu[unknown]un, each district has its own laws,” or what is even worse: “ en me bu[unknown]un,” freely translated: “So many heads, so many meanings.” Moreover, it is a duty of the chief to communicate to the people the regulations of the government, to see that they are carried out, and to collect the head tax.’
[1]
Apparently, many customary regulations were no longer enforced under foreign administration: The effect of this ruling was to deprive the granting corporation of its residual title; once the grant was made, the grantee had full title. The grantee need not now render first fruits or obtain the grantor’s approval for transactions he wished to arrange. The head of the granting corporation could no longer claim to be sowuppwún; this title now belonged to the head of the recipient corporation if he wished to claim it. Some people on Romónum continue to follow traditional practice and continue to render gifts of first fruits to the traditional sowuppwún as a matter of courtesy, and there are some who still try to assert their right to first fruits under the traditional system. No one is compelled to follow traditional practice and a number of people no longer do so. It is my impression that scarcely anyone would do so if he felt that he would be seriously inconvenienced by it.’
[2]
[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 126 [2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1974. “Changing Social Organization On Romónum, Truk, 1947-1965”, 80 |
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|
[1]
However the "king was no law-maker. His function was to administer the law already established." This meant the people were able to "check and curb the arbitrary powers of the king."
[2]
Conningham validated this code in saying thatparts of the dharma are written down in edicts
[3]
[1]: Radhakumud Mookerj, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, Motilal Banarsidass Publications (1966) [2]: V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar, The Mauryan Polity (1932), p. 160 [3]: Conningham, Rob, pers. comm. Interview with Harvey Whitehouse and Christina Collins, Jan 2017 |
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|
Carolingian legal system of of 10th century had mostly "vanished" and no legislation survives from early Capetian kings.
[1]
King ruled by decree. In 1144 CE Louis VII issued an ordinance to "banished the relapsed Jews from the kingdom" and in 1155 CE "established the Peace of God for ten years." French customary law not written down until 13th century. "Roman and canon law provided the inspiration for this activity. Customary law varied from one region of France to another, and the writing of such law took place within regional or provincial boundaries." [1] [1]: (Pegues 1995, 1005-1010) |
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|
Pactus legis Salicae territorial law-code.
[1]
First Merovingian law code can be dated before 511 CE. First sixty five titles of Pactus Legis Salicae "antedates the Liber Constitutionum of the Burgundians by at least a decade." Pagan elements within original work suggest Frankish origin in addition to some Christian Roman involvement. Pactus Legis Salicae most associated in with Neustria region, Lex Ribvaria with Austrasia and Liber Constitutionum (or Lex Gundobada) with Burgundy. [2] No royal legislation survives beyond 614 CE. However there are literature references to royal edicts after this date. [3] Law letters, precepts, edicts, decrees, pacts. Merovingian law books: Pactus Legis Salicae and Lex Ribvaria. [4] Pactus pro tenore pacis on theft [5] "The Lombards made no effort to repeat Ostrogothic parallelism in Italy. They recast the civil and juridicial system of the country in the regions which they occupied, promulgating a new legal code based on traditional Germanic norms, but drafted in Latin, which soon predominated over Roman law. The Merovingian kings retained a double legal system, but with the growing anarchy of their rule, Latin memories and norms progressively faded. Germanic law became progressively dominant, while the land taxes inherited from Rome broke down administ the resistance of the population and Church to a fiscality which no longer corresponded to any public services or integrated State. Taxation progressively lapsed altogether in the Frankish kingdoms." [6] [1]: (Halsall in Wood ed. 1998, 151) [2]: (Wood 1994, 112-115) [3]: (Fouracre in Wood ed. 1998, 286-289) [4]: (Wood 1994, 103-104) [5]: (Wood 1994, 106) [6]: (Anderson 2013, 124) Anderson, Perry. 2013. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. Verso Books. |
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|
King and royal courtletters, precepts, edicts, decrees, pacts.
Merovingian law books: Pactus Legis Salicae and Lex Ribvaria. [1] Pactus pro tenore pacis on theft [2] Patriae (kings?) [3] Pactus legis Salicae territorial law-code. [4] First Merovingian law code can be dated before 511 CE. First sixty five titles of Pactus Legis Salicae "antedates the Liber Constitutionum of the Burgundians by at least a decade." Pagan elements within original work suggest Frankish origin in addition to some Christian Roman involvement. Pactus Legis Salicae most associated in with Neustria region, Lex Ribvaria with Austrasia and Liber Constitutionum (or Lex Gundobada) with Burgundy. [5] No royal legislation survives beyond 614 CE. However there are literature references to royal edicts after this date. [6] [1]: (Wood 1994, 103-104) [2]: (Wood 1994, 106) [3]: (Wood 1994, 115) [4]: (Halsall in Wood ed. 1998, 151) [5]: (Wood 1994, 112-115) [6]: (Fouracre in Wood ed. 1998, 286-289) |
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|
King and royal courtletters, precepts, edicts, decrees, pacts.
Merovingian law books: Pactus Legis Salicae and Lex Ribvaria. [1] Pactus pro tenore pacis on theft [2] Patriae (kings?) [3] Pactus legis Salicae territorial law-code. [4] First Merovingian law code can be dated before 511 CE. First sixty five titles of Pactus Legis Salicae "antedates the Liber Constitutionum of the Burgundians by at least a decade." Pagan elements within original work suggest Frankish origin in addition to some Christian Roman involvement. Pactus Legis Salicae most associated in with Neustria region, Lex Ribvaria with Austrasia and Liber Constitutionum (or Lex Gundobada) with Burgundy. [5] No royal legislation survives beyond 614 CE. However there are literature references to royal edicts after this date. [6] "The Lombards made no effort to repeat Ostrogothic parallelism in Italy. They recast the civil and juridicial system of the country in the regions which they occupied, promulgating a new legal code based on traditional Germanic norms, but drafted in Latin, which soon predominated over Roman law. The Merovingian kings retained a double legal system, but with the growing anarchy of their rule, Latin memories and norms progressively faded. Germanic law became progressively dominant, while the land taxes inherited from Rome broke down administ the resistance of the population and Church to a fiscality which no longer corresponded to any public services or integrated State. Taxation progressively lapsed altogether in the Frankish kingdoms." [7] [1]: (Wood 1994, 103-104) [2]: (Wood 1994, 106) [3]: (Wood 1994, 115) [4]: (Halsall in Wood ed. 1998, 151) [5]: (Wood 1994, 112-115) [6]: (Fouracre in Wood ed. 1998, 286-289) [7]: (Anderson 2013, 124) Anderson, Perry. 2013. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. Verso Books. |
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|
Customary law?
Honour price was "the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon custom of wergild, the amount payable by a third party in the event of unlawful injury or death." "The concept of honour price was fundamental to the legal system of the Celts. It dictated the conduct of all judicial cases, since the value of an individual’s oath or evidence was determined by his honour price. To bring a lawsuit against someone with a higher honour price required the intervention of a patron of higher rank, creating an environment in which the support of the richest and most influential members of the elite was constantly sought after." [1] [1]: (Allen 2007, 65) |
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|
Honour price was "the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon custom of wergild, the amount payable by a third party in the event of unlawful injury or death." "The concept of honour price was fundamental to the legal system of the Celts. It dictated the conduct of all judicial cases, since the value of an individual’s oath or evidence was determined by his honour price. To bring a lawsuit against someone with a higher honour price required the intervention of a patron of higher rank, creating an environment in which the support of the richest and most influential members of the elite was constantly sought after."
[1]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 65) |
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Customary law?
Honour price was "the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon custom of wergild, the amount payable by a third party in the event of unlawful injury or death." "The concept of honour price was fundamental to the legal system of the Celts. It dictated the conduct of all judicial cases, since the value of an individual’s oath or evidence was determined by his honour price. To bring a lawsuit against someone with a higher honour price required the intervention of a patron of higher rank, creating an environment in which the support of the richest and most influential members of the elite was constantly sought after." [1] [1]: (Allen 2007, 65) |
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’The initial processes applicable to civil, oath, accused or criminal summonses have already been described. In order to meet the clerical service required for these forms, there is attached to the important Tribunals a Registrar’s office where summonses and all the other processes are taken. The Registrar has charge of the cause list and the Record Books. In Akim Abuakwa the tribunal sits for five days in the week, Wednesday being excluded by the “Awukudae” custom, and Sunday by the British connexion and other Christian influences. Sittings of Tribunal last for about 6 to 10 working hours each day, and the Omanhene, as responsible judge, is always expected to be present throughout the day’s sitting. We have already described the constitution of the Tribunal as consisting of the Omanhene, his Linguists, his four principal Executive Chiefs, the Queen-Mother, the non-Stool owning Elders and Councillors (including in the latter term the Christian Elders and Presbyters). The Tribunal is summoned by the “Kantamanto” or “woni-mini” drum ( q.v.) and on the Omanhene taking his seat at the third beating of the drum, the Registrar proceeds to deal with his cause list.’
[1]
.Possibly only customary law: ’In theory the Supreme Court Ordinance gave preference to customary law unless it was specifically excluded by a contract. Nevertheless, it seemed initially as if the changes privileged English common law since many of the British judges knew little about customary law, but over time there did develop a body of "case law based on native law."’
[2]
[1]: Danquah, J. B. (Joseph Boakye), 1928: 97; Literacy Database [2]: Gocking, Roger S. 2005. “The History of Ghana”, 30p |
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Codes of laws and regulations were recorded in inscriptions (commonly incised on stone). Legal inscriptions, the oldest are dated to the 7th century BCE, were found so far in the city-states of Gortyn, Axos, and Dreros.
[1]
[2]
Many inscriptions were displayed on sanctuaries, a tangible expression of the intersection of law and religion. The texts are fragmentary and provide a very cloudy picture on the legal systems adopted by the Archaic city-states.
[3]
[4]
The codes primarily deal with issues of ownership and pledges. The most important inscription, the longest inscription of the Greek world, is the famous Gortyn Code or the Great Code.
[5]
[6]
[7]
Although the inscription is dated to the first half of the 5th century BCE, it is argued that echoes Archaic legislative systems.
[1]: Guarducci, M. 1950. Inscriptiones Creticae IV, Rome, 1-40 [2]: Perlman, P. J. 2004. “Writing on the walls. The architectural context of Archaic Cretan laws,” in Day, L. P., Mook, M. S., and Muhly, J. D. 2004. Crete Beyond the Palaces: Proceedings of the Crete 2000 Conference (Prehistory Monographs 10), Philadelphia,181-97. [3]: Willetts, R. F. 1965. Ancient Crete. A Social History, London and Torondo, 76-84 [4]: Chaniotis, A. 1897. "Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη," in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, Heraklion, 200-03. [5]: Guarducci, M. 1950. Inscriptiones Creticae IV, Rome, n. 72 [6]: Willetts, R. F. 1967. The Law Code of Gortyn, Berlin [7]: Di Vita, A. ed. 1984. Creta Antica. Cento anni di archaeologia italiana (1884-1984), Rome, 73-9 |
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inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods
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The first formal legal code dates to 1827: "These three laws were: first, against murder, ’the one who commits murder here shall die, by being hung’; second, against theft, ’the one who steals shall be put in irons’; third, against adultery, for which the penalty was imprisonment in irons. Three other proposed laws, against rum selling, prostitution, and gambling, were drawn up, to be explained and taught to the people before they should be adopted. It was agreed that the chiefs should meet six months later to continue their consultation upon the subject. The three laws adopted and the three proposed were printed together on one sheet, which bears the date December 8, 1827. On December 14, the people were assembled in a coconut grove near the fort; the three enacted laws were formally proclaimed, and the king, Kaahumanu, and Boki exhorted the people, both native and foreign, to obey the three laws which had been adopted and to give attention to the three which were not yet enacted."
[1]
[1]: (Kuykendall 1938, 126) |
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The first formal legal code dates to 1827: "These three laws were: first, against murder, ’the one who commits murder here shall die, by being hung’; second, against theft, ’the one who steals shall be put in irons’; third, against adultery, for which the penalty was imprisonment in irons. Three other proposed laws, against rum selling, prostitution, and gambling, were drawn up, to be explained and taught to the people before they should be adopted. It was agreed that the chiefs should meet six months later to continue their consultation upon the subject. The three laws adopted and the three proposed were printed together on one sheet, which bears the date December 8, 1827. On December 14, the people were assembled in a coconut grove near the fort; the three enacted laws were formally proclaimed, and the king, Kaahumanu, and Boki exhorted the people, both native and foreign, to obey the three laws which had been adopted and to give attention to the three which were not yet enacted."
[1]
[1]: (Kuykendall 1938, 126) |
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In 1605 CE Jahangir issued 12 ordinances. It was not a comprehensive legal code but a well-meaning if also somewhat idiosyncratic set of rulings. These included the setting up of hospitals, a ban on the sale of alcohol, the release of prisoners, and a proclamation that Sunday was an auspicious day. Sharia law codes and the rulings of the ulemas were of fundamental importance to the Islamic dynasty but most of the native Indian customary law was respected.
[1]
[2]
[1]: N. Jayapalan. 2001. History of India. From 1206 to 1773. Volume II. Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. New Delhi. p. 158-159 [2]: Ramesh Kumar Arora. Rajni Goyal. 1996. Indian Public Administration: Institutions and Issues. Wishwa Prakashan. New Delhi. p.22 |
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Initially, Iban customary law was not formalized: ’The legal rights and duties of every Iban is defined by the adat , customary law. Among the laws affecting women are courtship, marriage, divorce, inheritance, and fines imposed in cases of infraction of the law. The fines are payed in kati , the value of which is based on brass or bronze, or in money; one kati equals one dollar.’
[1]
The Brooke Raj administration introduced a formal penal code only in the colonial period: ’Sir Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke (b. Sept. 26, 1874, London-d. May 9, 1963, London) was the third and last “white raja” (1917-46). He joined the Sarawak administration in 1897. After World War I, a boom in rubber and oil drew Sarawak further into the world economy, and for that and other reasons the state embarked on gradual modernization of its institutions. Public services were developed, a Sarawak penal code modelled on that of British India was introduced in 1924, and there was some extension of educational opportunity.’
[2]
[1]: Komanyi, Margit Ilona 1973. “Real And Ideal Participation In Decision-Making Of Iban Women: A Study Of A Longhouse Community In Sarawak, East Malaysia", 90 [2]: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Brooke-Raj |
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Hayam Wuruk’s court issued legal decrees which are described in epigraphic records. The epigraphic accounting is not a logical legal rendering, but reads as a ’dramatic literary record that tells the story of the eventual winner’.
[1]
Oral tradition continued to be more important than the conduct of justice in Java, however.
[2]
[1]: (Hall 2000, 57) [2]: (Reid 1988, 137) |
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Two fragments of a larger clay tablet (designated Hazor 18) were discovered in 2010 at Tel Hazor, that would possibly have contained as many as 20 or 30 laws (which in turn could have been part of a larger collection of law tablets) in a format similar to the Code of Hammurabi. (The fragments themselves concern torts having to do with injury to a slave that has been rented from his master.) An earlier tablet, Hazor 5, contains part of the description of a lawsuit, judged by the king personally. "…the Laws of Hazor, inscribed on Hazor clay, may be viewed as further evidence of the position of Hazor as a kind of Babylon/Hattuša of the cuneiform far west — in other words, a city of the first and most important rank ruled by a great king."
[1]
It is likely that at least some other Canaanite polities would have had formal law codes, but whether such codes were standard is impossible to know.
[1]: Horowitz/Oshima/Vukosavovic (2012). |
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This turns on the degree to which the Mosaic code existed in a formal manner, and was followed, which is hotly debated by scholars. It is clear that informal codes existed, at the very least. There is no evidence for a royal law code for the Northern Kingdom that has survived.
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This turns on the degree to which the Mosaic code existed in a formal manner, and was followed, which is hotly debated by scholars. It is clear that informal codes existed, at the very least. There is no evidence for a royal law code for the Northern Kingdom that has survived.
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Smirtis and dharmashastras
[1]
. The Smriti, or Manu-smriti, is a collection of texts prescribing correct behaviour, including a section explicitly devoted to "the law of kings"
[2]
, while the dharmashastras are a collection of more explicitly legal texts
[3]
.
[1]: D.P. Dikshit, Political History of the Chalukyas (1980), p. 230 [2]: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/363055/Manu-smriti [3]: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/160730/Dharma-shastra |
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The "judicial [...] administration of the Chalukyas resembled that of their ancestors"
[1]
: therefore, like the Chalukyas of Badami, they must have followed smirtis and dharmashastras
[2]
. The Smriti, or Manu-smriti, is a collection of texts prescribing correct behaviour, including a section explicitly devoted to "the law of kings"
[3]
, while the dharmashastras are a collection of more explicitly legal texts
[4]
.
[1]: H.V. Sreenivasa Murthy and R. Ramakrishnan, A History of Karnataka (1978), p. 91 [2]: D.P. Dikshit, Political History of the Chalukyas (1980), p. 230 [3]: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/363055/Manu-smriti [4]: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/160730/Dharma-shastra |
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The presence of a formal legal system is not discussed in the literature, and is therefore presumed absent.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. [2]: Avari, B. (2007) India: The Ancient Past: A history of the India sub-continent from c. 7,000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge: London and New York. |
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Sources do not suggest there are written records from this period, so a formal legal code is inferred to be absent.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London. [2]: Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (1983). "The Cloud People." New York. |
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Though no source explicitly says this, based on analogy with the Chalukyas
[1]
, it seems likely that the Rashtrakutas used Smirtis and dharmashastras as legal codes. The Smriti, or Manu-smriti, is a collection of texts prescribing correct behaviour, including a section explicitly devoted to "the law of kings"
[2]
, while the dharmashastras are a collection of more explicitly legal texts
[3]
[1]: D.P. Dikshit, Political History of the Chalukyas (1980), p. 230 [2]: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/363055/Manu-smriti [3]: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/160730/Dharma-shastra |
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"The evidence of the contemporary Smritis like Narada and Brihaspati shows that the judicial procedure was very well developed in the Gupta period. We may well presume that the sound rules which have been laid down in these Smritis about restraint, res judicata, the relative importance of the oral and the documentary evience, etc., were evolved in the Gupta, Vakataka and Pallava law-courts."
[1]
[1]: (Majumdar and Altekar 1986, 278) Anant Sadashiv Altekar. The Administrative Organisation. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar. Anant Sadashiv Altekar. 1986. Vakataka - Gupta Age Circa 200-550 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi. |
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The only law of the land was based on traditional regulations and customs, strengthened by the constitutional usage of the country, and its observance was strictly enforced
[1]
. Vijayanagar rulers ‘tried to adhere to ancient practices of Hinduism through cultural revivalism’. The law was thus mainly based on traditional Hindu legal codes as well as some local customs.
[2]
[3]
[1]: R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Raychaudhuri, Kalikinkar Datta, An Advanced History of India (1974), p. 376 [2]: Madhao P. Patil. 1999. Court Life Under The Vijayanagar Rulers. B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 211. [3]: R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Raychaudhuri, Kalikinkar Datta. 1974. An Advanced History of India. p. 376 |
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[1]
In the Abbasid Caliphate formal the law was promulgated by a body known as the Fuqaha. The law code was heavily influenced by Sharia law. Sharia was based on the Sunna, which were teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Legal thought was also influenced by Ijma’, which were a body of rulings on legal issues based on the consensus of scholars who had met to discuss specific cases. Despite the Caliphate’s claims to religious authority based on their links to the Prophet Muhammed, it was rare for direct rulings on legal matters to originate from the caliphal authorities. Alongside a developing legal code was the development of the Qudis, who were full time judiciary officials. [2] [1]: Van Berkel, Maaike, Nadia Maria El Cheikh, Hugh Kennedy, and Letizia Osti. Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court pp. 87-90 [2]: Zubaida, Sami, Law and power in the Islamic world. (Tauris & Company Limited, 2005) pp. 74-84 |
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Islamic law, shari’a.
"Medieval scholars accepted the view that although the caliphs were the legitimate bearers of temporal authority within the Sunni Muslim community, the ulama were the true "heirs of the Prophet" in terms of religious authority." [1] [1]: (Hanne 2007, 22) Hanne, Eric J. 2007. Putting the Caliph in His Place: Power, Authority, and the Late Abbasid Caliphate. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. |
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"Long before the dynasty of Sargon, Mesopotamia had both concepts and practices of law, governing certain relations between and among individuals, families, the community and the government. Although no formal collection of legal decisions, promulgations, or pronouncements about law has come down to us from the Akkadian period, we can reconstruct aspects of its law from a rich inventory of documents recording instances of its practice, from both Sumer and Akkad, as well as the earliest known records of litigation."
[1]
Ur-Nammu of Ur III (r. c2112-2094 BCE) or his son Shulgi (r. c. 2094-2047 BCE) "some scholars believe was the author of the first recorded set of law codes." [2] [1]: (Foster 2016, 37) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London. [2]: (Middleton 2015, 979) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge. |
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The Code of Hammurabi is one of the most famous artefacts of the period. While it is considered to be heavy with propaganda it provides evidence for the presence of a law code, even if it cannot be certain how it was actually implemented at the time. There are certainly many contracts and court testimonies surviving to be sure that a law code was in existence and implemented. In particular, the misharum was "a short-term measure, apparently proclaimed orally rather than inscribed on monuments, designed to alleviate social and economic distress"
[1]
[1]: Oates, J. Babylon. Revised Edition. London: Thames and Hudson. p.55 |
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"A number of kings in this period have left law codes, following the earlier example of Shulgi, and consciously upholding and imitating ancient values."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 84) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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Ur-Nammu or Shulgi’s code. Regulated criminal, administrative and social cases, and included some protection for the poor against usurers and loan sharks
[1]
.
earliest known law codes. [2] Law codes "not just laws meant to alleviate structural disfunctions in the system. They were an organic and solid re-organisation of the way justice was administered, and it is evident that the intention behind them was to create a uniform system." [3] [1]: Van De Mieroop 2013, 282-283 [2]: (Leverani 2014, 157) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [3]: (Leverani 2014, 159) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) |
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"The Persian word for ’law’ was data." "By royal decrees, local jurists codified the laws of their own nations, and imperial authorities enforced those laws. Thus, the Jews worked according to Biblical laws with the royal sanctions, the Egyptians according to older Egyptian laws, the Iranians according to Avestan injunctions and their local traditions."
[1]
Civil law based on Persian law. Cyrus II and Darius I known to have made reforms. "Unfortunately no Achaemenid law code, comparable to the Babylonian one or to the Hittite laws, has survived, if any ever existed." [2] "Universal justice system" and judges. [3] "Punishment was as cruel as in the ancient Near East generally. Execution, crucifixion, impalement, mutilation, banishment were common." [4] [1]: (Shahbazi 2012, 135) Shahbazi, A Shapour. The Archaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) Daryaee, Touraj. ed. 2012. The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press. [3]: (Farazmand 2002) |
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Qazi Isa "pleaded the desirability of replacing Mongol law (yasa) with Islamic law (šarīʿa) when he abolished the tamḡā (excise on merchandise)".
[1]
[1]: (Quiring-Zoche 2011) Quiring-Zoche, R. 2011. Aq Qoyunlu. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aq-qoyunlu-confederation |
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In neighbouring Mesopotamia: Ur-Nammu of Ur III (r. c2112-2094 BCE) or his son Shulgi (r. c. 2094-2047 BCE) "some scholars believe was the author of the first recorded set of law codes."
[1]
A "legal system" may have been present - not sure what this refers to. "the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60." [2] [1]: (Middleton 2015, 979) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge. [2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html |
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In neighbouring Mesopotamia: Ur-Nammu of Ur III (r. c2112-2094 BCE) or his son Shulgi (r. c. 2094-2047 BCE) "some scholars believe was the author of the first recorded set of law codes."
[1]
A "legal system" may have been present - not sure what this refers to. "the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60." [2] [1]: (Middleton 2015, 979) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge. [2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html |
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"The advent of the Parthians did not mark a break in the cultural history of the Greek cities, which retained their constitutions and magistrates, their schools, language, and law, long after the decline of Seleucid power."
[1]
[1]: (Neusner 2008, 10) Neusner, Jacob. 2008. A History of the Jews in Babylonia. 1. The Parthian Period. Wipf & Stock. Eugene. |
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"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included the development and use of a binary weight system, which had a major influence on the fraction systems of the whole Mesopotamia; a massive number of administrative and business documents; major architectural works; the development and management of a gigantic system of underground canals (Qanat) for irrigation, an Iranian invention that turned the arid land into an agricultural land; the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers; and the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law. In addition, Elamites were the first to introduce the role of witnesses in the elaborate judicial proceedings with and ’ordeal trial’."
[1]
"Administrative tablets and a monumental stele from Haft Tepe name as king Tepti-ahar. Inscribed seal impressions provide his full title, "king of Susa and Anzan". Tepti-ahar was known from three previously published texts: a brick inscription that, like the published Haft Tepe stele, regulates the conduct and support of a local cult; and two legal texts, formerly presumed to date to the late sukkalmah period."
[2]
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton. [2]: (Carter and Stopler 1984, 33-34) |
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"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law. In addition, Elamites were the first to introduce the role of witnesses in the elaborate judicial proceedings with and ’ordeal trial’."
[1]
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton. |
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"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included the development and use of a binary weight system, which had a major influence on the fraction systems of the whole Mesopotamia; a massive number of administrative and business documents; major architectural works; the development and management of a gigantic system of underground canals (Qanat) for irrigation, an Iranian invention that turned the arid land into an agricultural land; the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers; and the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law. In addition, Elamites were the first to introduce the role of witnesses in the elaborate judicial proceedings with and ’ordeal trial’."
[1]
"The third phase (Middle Elamite III, c. 1200-1100 BC) saw the overthrow of the Kassites by one of the most important figures in Elamite history, Shutruk-Nahhunte. It was he, following his conquest of southern Mesopotamia, who brought to Susa such significant monuments as the law code of Hammurabi, the victory stele of the Old Akkadian king Naram- Sin, and many other pieces of Mesopotamian statuary, booty taken during his victorious campaign in 1158 BC."
[2]
"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law." [1] [1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton. [2]: (Potts 2004, 188) |
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"The advent of the Parthians did not mark a break in the cultural history of the Greek cities, which retained their constitutions and magistrates, their schools, language, and law, long after the decline of Seleucid power."
[1]
[1]: (Neusner 2008, 10) Neusner, Jacob. 2008. A History of the Jews in Babylonia. 1. The Parthian Period. Wipf & Stock. Eugene. |
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"The advent of the Parthians did not mark a break in the cultural history of the Greek cities, which retained their constitutions and magistrates, their schools, language, and law, long after the decline of Seleucid power."
[1]
[1]: (Neusner 2008, 10) Neusner, Jacob. 2008. A History of the Jews in Babylonia. 1. The Parthian Period. Wipf & Stock. Eugene. |
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Law and its administration was split into secular and religious spheres. Secular law was formed through the legal code issued by the central government. Religious law was Islamic and run through the shari’ah courts. Court had judges.
"Almost all taxes were in direct forms and were collected throughout the country in accordance with the legal code prepared by the central government." [1] [1]: Mousavi, Mohammad A. “The Autonomous State in Iran: Mobility and Prosperity in the Reign of Shah ’Abbas the Great (1587-1629).” Iran & the Caucasus 12, no. 1 (January 1, 2008): 32. |
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absent
"codified law did not exist in Sasanian Iran" the Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions "cannot be considered a legal code. It is one of the collections that were compiled as manuals for the administration of justice." [1] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [2] later Sasanid period present "In the specialist literature, the Madigan has become known as the ’Sasanian Legal Code’. ... It is possible to reconstitute practically the entire system of Iranian law on the basis of the mass of information contained in the Code." [1] According to the Dankard, a judge had to consider the Avesta, its Pahlavi translation and commentaries, and "the consesus of the Righteous (ham-dadestanith i wehan)". [3] The law was based on religion, specifically "the Holy Scripture of the Avesta and its translation and commentaries in Pahlavi". [3] Court cases judged on Zoroastrian law, unless both parties from another religion. [4] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II c.531 CE. [2] Link between Iranian law and Zoroastrian religion shown in Madigan-i hazar dadestan [Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions] c620 CE, author "was a contemporary of Khusrau II." [1] [1]: (Khromov 1996, 105) Tafazzoli, A. and Khromov, A. L. Sasanian Iran: Intellectual Life. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.82-105. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf [2]: (Daryaee 2009, 27-37) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. [3]: (Macuch 2012) Macuch, Maria. 2016. Judicial and Legal Systems iii. Sasanian Legal System. Vol. XV. Fasc. 2. pp. 181-196. Site accessed: 21 September 2016: www.iranicaonline.org/articles/judicial-and-legal-systems-iii-sasanian-legal-system [4]: (Daryaee 2009, 2-20) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. |
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absent
"codified law did not exist in Sasanian Iran" the Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions "cannot be considered a legal code. It is one of the collections that were compiled as manuals for the administration of justice." [1] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II. [2] later Sasanid period present "In the specialist literature, the Madigan has become known as the ’Sasanian Legal Code’. ... It is possible to reconstitute practically the entire system of Iranian law on the basis of the mass of information contained in the Code." [1] According to the Dankard, a judge had to consider the Avesta, its Pahlavi translation and commentaries, and "the consesus of the Righteous (ham-dadestanith i wehan)". [3] The law was based on religion, specifically "the Holy Scripture of the Avesta and its translation and commentaries in Pahlavi". [3] Court cases judged on Zoroastrian law, unless both parties from another religion. [4] Codification of Sasanian law occurred Khusrau I - Khusrau II c.531 CE. [2] Link between Iranian law and Zoroastrian religion shown in Madigan-i hazar dadestan [Book of a Thousand Judicial Decisions] c620 CE, author "was a contemporary of Khusrau II." [1] [1]: (Khromov 1996, 105) Tafazzoli, A. and Khromov, A. L. Sasanian Iran: Intellectual Life. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.82-105. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf [2]: (Daryaee 2009, 27-37) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. [3]: (Macuch 2012) Macuch, Maria. 2016. Judicial and Legal Systems iii. Sasanian Legal System. Vol. XV. Fasc. 2. pp. 181-196. Site accessed: 21 September 2016: www.iranicaonline.org/articles/judicial-and-legal-systems-iii-sasanian-legal-system [4]: (Daryaee 2009, 2-20) Daryaee, Touraj. 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris. London. |
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Codex Iustinianus, canon law. “In 1357, Albornoz promulgated a set of laws for the lands he had conquered that was later known as the Constitutiones aegidianae. This became the basic legal code of the papal states and was not superseded under the Napoleonic era.”
[1]
Canon law mentioned. [1] Papal bulls in the 1200s mentioned. [1] 1730s: “...the papal states remained in fact a collection of provinces and cities rather than an organic political unit.” (263) [2] [1]: Kleinhenz, Christopher, ed. 2017. Routledge Revivals: Medieval Italy (2004): An Encyclopedia- Volume I. Routledge. [2]: Wright, A.D. 2014. The Early Modern Papacy. London: Routledge. |
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In 1357 CE papal legate Cardinal Albornoz introduced the Constitutions of the Holy Mother Church (Constitutiones aegidianae). This public law code remained effective until Napoleon. The laws regulated the Papal-commune relationship, and codified the status of papal courts, which had been competing with rival authorities in the states.
[1]
“In 1357, Albornoz promulgated a set of laws for the lands he had conquered that was later known as the Constitutiones aegidianae. This became the basic legal code of the papal states and was not superseded under the Napoleonic era.”
[2]
Canon law mentioned. [2] Papal bulls in the 1200s mentioned. [2] 1730s: “...the papal states remained in fact a collection of provinces and cities rather than an organic political unit.” (263) [3] [1]: (Kleinhenz 2004, 854) [2]: Kleinhenz, Christopher, ed. 2017. Routledge Revivals: Medieval Italy (2004): An Encyclopedia- Volume I. Routledge. [3]: Wright, A.D. 2014. The Early Modern Papacy. London: Routledge. |
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A few hundreds tablets regarding the law regulation and civil law were discovered.
[1]
[2]
This region was once occupied by Ur III: Ur-Nammu of Ur III (r. c2112-2094 BCE) or his son Shulgi (r. c. 2094-2047 BCE) "some scholars believe was the author of the first recorded set of law codes." [3] These laws were novel in that they mostly imposed financial punishments as opposed to harsh physical retribution. [3] "Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included the development and use of a binary weight system, which had a major influence on the fraction systems of the whole Mesopotamia; a massive number of administrative and business documents; major architectural works; the development and management of a gigantic system of underground canals (Qanat) for irrigation, an Iranian invention that turned the arid land into an agricultural land; the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers; and the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law. In addition, Elamites were the first to introduce the role of witnesses in the elaborate judicial proceedings with and ’ordeal trial’." [4] "The scribal practices and forms of royal interventions were directly modellled on the Babylonian example. However, the Elamite legal documentation still displays several unique traits and an increased archaism... Firstly, punishments were physical and not financial, cruel and discouraging rather than realistic. Moreover, the evidence used in disputes could be of a magical or religious nature (such as river ordeals). A sworn testimony was more common than the provision of written evidence..." [5] "The whole conception of justice was based on the religious idea of the kitin, or ’divine protection’, which could be lost when committing sins and perjuries. Consequently the divine is strongly present in Elamite legal documentation." [6] "Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law." [4] [1]: Hinz 1971, 271 [2]: Liverani 2014, 254 [3]: (Middleton 2015, 979) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge. [4]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton. [5]: (Leverani 2014, 254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [6]: (Leverani 2014, 254-255) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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: "Apart from few royal inscriptions, the evidence on the Sukkal-mah period is mainly based on legal documents. Apart from the use of the Babylonian language, the Elamite legal system adopted several instruments typical of the Old Babylonian period. At Susa, a fragment of a code has been found, though it is too small for a reconstruction of Elamite society. However, this fragment is clear enough to attest to the royal practice, copied from Eshnunna or Babylon, of producing legal or celebratory texts. For instance, we know that Attahushu (nineteeth century BC), one of the first sukkal-mah, placed a stele in the market place with a list of fair prices. From the beginning of the sixteenth century BC, we know that some of the last sukkal-mah ’established justice’ in the land, issuing edicts similar to the ones of Ammi-saduqa."
[1]
"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law." [2] [1]: (Leverani 2014, 254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton. |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
It is unlikely that any official legal code existed in Latium at the time of the Bronze Age.
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
It is unlikely that any official legal code existed in Latium at the time of the Copper Age.
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
[1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) |
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The Edictum Theoderici was a modernization of imperial Roman law.
[1]
The Goths had their own law code, promulgated for them by Theodoric.
[2]
"law of the Codex Theodosiani and its Novellae."
[3]
"Now that recent research has cast doubt on the tradition attribution of the famous Edictum to Theodoric the Great and has sough to bestow it on Theodoric II at Toulouse, Ostrogothic legal proceedings are even less securely defined."
[3]
"The Romans followed the Theodosian Code and the Novellae. The Goths adhered to their customs and whatever instructions were contained in the lost royal enactments."
[4]
"A few people still claimed to live under "Gothic law" as late as 769, but they were only one small and perculiar group."
[5]
"As the small Republic gradually extended its dominance over its neighbours, it was forced to find ways of conducting legal dealings with people who were not Romans, but whose laws could have something in common with Roman law. The imperial jurists distinguished the ius civile, the law of the civitas from the ius gentium, law of the peoples, and the ius naturale, the law of nature. The ius gentium did not refer to anything approximating to international law, but rather to the things that the Roman ius civile had in common with the usages of other peoples." [6] Writing c200 CE "Papinian, perhaps the authority on law most respected in late antiquity, listed the sources of the ius civile as statutes (leges), popular resolutions (plebiscita), senatorial enactments (senatusconsulta), decrees of emperors (decreta principum) and the authoritative pronouncements of men learned in law, the jurists (auctoritas prudentium). To these was added the ius honorarium, the law contained in the Edict of the praetor, who, under the Republic and Early Empire administered law in Rome; this form of law derived its name from the praetor’s magistracy (honos) and was held to ’assist, supplement or amend’ the ius civile.". [7] [1]: (Wolfram and Dunlap 1990, 289) [2]: (Hodgkin 1897) [3]: (Burns 1991, 172) [4]: (Burns 1991, 173) [5]: (Burns 1991, 215) [6]: (Harries 2001, 10) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [7]: (Harries 2001, 11) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
"ius honorarium, the law contained in the Edict of the praetor, who, under the Republic and Early Empire administered law in Rome; this form of law derived its name from the praetor’s magistracy (honos) and was held to ’assist, supplement or amend’ the ius civile.". [2] "The criminal law owed much to the reforms of two past lawgivers, the proto-emperor, L. Cornelius Sulla (dictator and consul, 81-80 BC), and the emperor Augustus. Sulla established a number of courts (quaestiones) to try various criminal offences, such as murder and poisoning (or use of charms), or forgery; in the statutes he would have defined the crime and the penalty. In other areas of criminal law, the framework supplied for later developments by the Leges Iuliae, the legislation of Augustus, predominates, with whole sections of the imperial law-codes devoted to imperial enactments relevant to the Julian laws on adulteries, corrupt solicitation (ambitus), extortion (repetundae), treason (maiestas) and on violence)." [3] "As jury-courts fell out of use under the Early Empire, to be replaced by hearings before a single magistrate or judge, the courts established by the criminal statutes ceased to operate, but the statues themselves remained, as they specified offence and punishment. People prosecuted for murder, poisoning, or other relevant offences were still prosecuted under Sulla’s law and liable to its penalties." [3] [1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Harries 2001, 11) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Harries 2001, 12) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
"ius honorarium, the law contained in the Edict of the praetor, who, under the Republic and Early Empire administered law in Rome; this form of law derived its name from the praetor’s magistracy (honos) and was held to ’assist, supplement or amend’ the ius civile.". [2] [1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Harries 2001, 11) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
A formal legal code was first founded in the Twelve Tables of 450-449 BCE. Law thereafter was based on precedent. Our sources of knowledge of Roman law include the forensic speeches of Cicero; the Institutes of Gaius textbook (from 160 CE); and, much later, the sixth century CE Corpus Ius Civilis of Justinian. Wax tablets and papyri (contracts and wills etc.) also provide information on Roman law.
[1]
However, before this time restrictions on funerary extravagance, from the start of the 6th century, may suggest the Twelve Tables laws (of the Early Republic) codified an existing body of law and legal practices.
[2]
The constitutio Antoniniana of 212 CE brought an end to the distinction between civis and peregrius. [3] Social and legal distinctions were redrawn between honestiores (those with dignitas, public standing) and humiliores (those without). "Mandata" were directions from Emperor to provincial governors and state official. [4] The range of legal sanctions consisted was determined by social standing: aggravated execution, forced labour, beatings, and torture were reserved for slaves and humiliore), whereas fines and exile were more common for honestiores. The exception were for conspirators against an emperor who, despite their high standing, were often brutally tortured and executed. Long-term custodial imprisonment was unknown as a punishment. Writing c200 CE "Papinian, perhaps the authority on law most respected in late antiquity, listed the sources of the ius civile as statutes (leges), popular resolutions (plebiscita), senatorial enactments (senatusconsulta), decrees of emperors (decreta principum) and the authoritative pronouncements of men learned in law, the jurists (auctoritas prudentium). To these was added the ius honorarium, the law contained in the Edict of the praetor, who, under the Republic and Early Empire administered law in Rome; this form of law derived its name from the praetor’s magistracy (honos) and was held to ’assist, supplement or amend’ the ius civile.". [5] [1]: (Tellegen-Couperus, 2002, 66) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 106) [3]: (Mousourakis 2007) [4]: (Mousourakis 2007, 161) [5]: (Harries 2001, 11) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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A comprehensive legal code existed from the late seventh century. The laws of the Ritsuryo-sei were based on those in use in Tang dynasty China.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Naomichi Ishige. 2014. The History And Culture Of Japanese Food. Routledge. London. [2]: Ikeda Hiroshi. 2009. Japanese Armor: An Overview. Morihiro Ogawa. ed. Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York. |
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There probably was no formal legal code as writing was not developed until the arrival of the Spanish. "There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms."
[1]
[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236) |
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Theodosius II instituted Codex Theodosianus.
"As the small Republic gradually extended its dominance over its neighbours, it was forced to find ways of conducting legal dealings with people who were not Romans, but whose laws could have something in common with Roman law. The imperial jurists distinguished the ius civile, the law of the civitas from the ius gentium, law of the peoples, and the ius naturale, the law of nature. The ius gentium did not refer to anything approximating to international law, but rather to the things that the Roman ius civile had in common with the usages of other peoples." [1] Writing c200 CE "Papinian, perhaps the authority on law most respected in late antiquity, listed the sources of the ius civile as statutes (leges), popular resolutions (plebiscita), senatorial enactments (senatusconsulta), decrees of emperors (decreta principum) and the authoritative pronouncements of men learned in law, the jurists (auctoritas prudentium). To these was added the ius honorarium, the law contained in the Edict of the praetor, who, under the Republic and Early Empire administered law in Rome; this form of law derived its name from the praetor’s magistracy (honos) and was held to ’assist, supplement or amend’ the ius civile.". [2] [1]: (Harries 2001, 10) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Harries 2001, 11) Harries, Jill. 2001. Law and Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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’This first legal code [Joei Shikimoku, was issued in 1232] remained relatively unchanged throughout the Kamakura reign with only a few amendments made in the form of supplementary edicts called tsuika. It was the primary national legal code of this period. After assuming power from the Kamakura government, the Ashikaga family of Muromachi shoguns continued to support legislation delineated in the Joei Shikimoku, considering their own edicts to be merely supplemental to the primacy of the original code. With the consultation of a board of scholars and advisers, Ashikaga Takauji included the major addition made by the Muromachi in 1336. This supplemental edict, the Kemmu Shikimoku, was based on a seventh century constitution written by Prince Shotoku and consisted of 17 articles dealing with the attitudes and behaviors expected of the warrior class. These items dealt with issues ranging from personal habits to the attention a ruler should pay the courtiers and peasants. Another major contribution of the Muromachi period to the legal structure of Japan was the development of principles of group responsibility known as renza and enza... Legal disputes were discouraged with the promotion of the kenka ryoseibai policy, which stated that the factions on either side of any argument were to be held equally accountable for the disagreement... shogunal succession leading to the Onin War caused a destabilization within the Muromachi government resulting in a decentralization of power starting as early as the 1460s. As the governmental structure fell into disarray, the legal system again became fragmented as local daimyo rose to power, enacting individual laws for their personal domains.’
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.102-103. |
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‘The regional laws set forth by the increasingly powerful daimyo continued to make up the primary form of legal structure after the Muromachi shogunate officially collapsed and the Azuchi-Momoyama period began. However, Japan as a nation was very unstable during this period, and domains changed hands often, making it hard to enforce any one legal code for very long. Thus, land rights were often abused and much criminal activity went unpunished.’
[1]
’the legal system was based on status considerations, and separate legal codes were issued for each status group.’
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.103. [2]: Hall, John Whitney (ed.). 1991.The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.p.123 |
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’It illustrates the sort of adversary situations in which legal fictions develop within a context of formally codified law.’
[1]
’If the Six National Histories helped enact as well as record the fiction of a harmonious Confucian state, the compiling of official statutes may well be the one substantive achievement of that state. Initially, legal scholarship had consisted of compiling whole new codes, culminating in the Yoro ritsuryo, drafted in 718 but not promulgated until 757. Attention then turned to explication and two important commentaries were compiled early in the Heian period. The first, Ryo no gige, written by an officially appointed committee of twelve, was completed in 833 and authorized the following year; the second, Ryo no shuge, was the private work of a single legal scholar, Koremune no Naomoto, who completed it during the Jogan era (859-77). It ls only in these commentaries that the texts of the original codes are preserved. The codes themselves, however, were not the only basis of early Japanese law. Over the years, many new regulations were issued either modifying the codes or detailing how they should be enforced. These were promulgated as various forms of imperial edicts or proclamations by the Council of State, and together they came to be known as kyaku and shiki’
[2]
[1]: Shively, Donald H. and McCullough, William H. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge Histories Online Cambridge University Press.p.307 [2]: Shively, Donald H. and McCullough, William H. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge Histories Online Cambridge University Press.p.364-365 |
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’With the rise of the warrior class and the unification of Japan under the Kamakura shogunate, the Japanese legal system acquired the form of the traditional samurai code of ethics focused on maintenance of the hierarchy and familial honor and obligation. Thus most of the early laws set forth by the shogunate were aimed at solidifying the power of the ruling class by delineating the privileges of the samurai warlords and the obligations of their vassals. This warrior class law, known as bukeho, was quickly disseminated throughout the land... The first official codification of the warrior-class laws, called the Joei Shikimoku, was issued in 1232 by the Kamakura shogunate, and it would set the tone for all the edicts issued by the military government for essentially the next 700 years. This code served to clearly define the roles of samurai lords and their vassals and was based on a combination of many of the local legal codes that antedated the shogunate. Thus, it was the first centralized national legal code compiled from all of the minor regulations that had been in existence on local estates, in military regimens, in monasteries, and in regional government offices. The last, and most important, function of this new law code was to clarify the now limited authority of the imperial court at Kyoto from which the warrior class had assumed power.
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.101-102. |
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’The law codes, too, show significant modification, such as the leniency of punishments in morally tolerant Japan relative to those in China’
[1]
’the ritsuryo (penal and administrative law) system, were closelyintertwined with economic and social change in the Nara period (710to 784).’
[2]
[1]: Henshall, Kenneth .2012. A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. Palgrave Macmillan. New York. [Third Edition] [2]: Brown, Delmer M. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 1: Ancient Japan. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press.p.415 |
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Confucian-based with differences between kokka territories.
"the legal system was based on status considerations, and separate legal codes were issued for each status group." [1] "As the governmental structure fell into disarray, the legal system again became fragmented as local daimyo rose to power, enacting individual laws for their personal domains." [2] [1]: Hall, John Whitney (ed.). 1991.The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.p.123 [2]: (Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.102-103.) |
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In 1615 Ieyasu Tokugawa issued laws aimed at controlling both the court and the military. ‘Though the court had legitimised Ieyasu’s own position...he made it clear that its authority was merely formal and ceremonial. It was made subject to the control of the shogunate, which reserved the right to approve all court appointments. Military houses were controlled by the enforcement of the status quo, down to the fine detail.’ The Tokugawa shogunate brought in strict codes of behaviour and enforced punishment for their breaking. Legal codes under the Tokugawa shogunate were a continuation of previous codes, however, ‘under the Tokugawa not only were they more detailed and explicit, but they were effective throughout Japan’
[1]
‘The Tokugawa also created a new set of laws for the military houses that was reminiscent of the code put forth by the Kamakura shogunate. Known as the Buke Shohatto, these laws served to tighten the shogunate’s control over conquered daimyo and were intended to structure the Edo social hierarchy in a way that conformed to the Confucian ideals for the perfect society. This initial set of laws proved very successful as it became solidly woven into the fabric of the Japanese ethos by the mid-1700s.’
[2]
[1]: Sansom, George Bailey. 1976. Japan: A Short Cultural History. Barrie & Jenkins [Revised 2nd ed].p.449. [2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.334. |
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’Justice was administered according to principles about which we have little detailed information, though certainly such Indian texts as the Manusmrti [...] were known. The king was recognised as the final court of appeal and final authority in law. Before a case reached the king, it might go through various lower courts; inscriptions frequently mention officials who appear to have functions connected with courts of law.’
[1]
’The Sanskrit poems proclaim the grandeur of kings; the Khmer inscriptions exhibit the precision with which jurisdictional squabbles were prosecuted and slaves registered.’
[2]
’As in the rest of the Indic world, the Angkor state and empire were government by rules laid down in the Code of Manu, a great compendium of Brahmanic law probably composed around the 4th century BC. [...] Every judicial act was theoretically inscribed on stone as well as on plaques of gold, silver or copper. The Khmer king was the defender of the law and order in Cambodia. His law courts, present on every administrative level right down tot he village, instituted criminal proceedings against transgressors and guaranteed the integrity of landholdings and the settling of boundary problems. Not even religious institutions such as temples were immune, sine they as well as private individuals could be sued over land.’
[3]
’Indian notions of kingship, which included the erection of commemorative stelae, architectural and art styles, the legal code, the use of a script, and the Hindu religion were selectively and skillfully woven into the emerging state-like polities of Cambodia.’
[4]
’The contents of Khmer temple libraries which may have been reproduced over the centuries, and the Khmer language royal chronicles, for which we have some evidence, are no longer extant (Jacques and Dumont [1990]1999: 17-18). This situation contrasts with that in some other parts of tropical Southeast Asia, where non-temple documents produced several hundred years ago still exist, having either been written on lasting materials such as copper plate or continuously reproduced (e.g. Wisseman 1977: 198-199; Aung Thwin 1985: 8-12; Wisseman Christie 1993: 180-181). These are sometimes able to provide alternative views of the society in which they were produced and can be compared with the temple inscription texts. In Burma, for example, the availability of a variety of historical text types (government archives, law codes, histories and administrative records, civil codes and chronicles giving narrative accounts) represent contemporary Burmese society somewhat more comprehensively (Aung Thwin 1983: 48; 1985: 8-12).’
[5]
[1]: (Mabbett and Chandler 1995, pp.167-168) [2]: (Chandler 2008, p. 37) [3]: (Coe 2003, p. 144) [4]: (Hingham 2012, p. 184) [5]: (Lustig 2009, p. 109) |
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’From the middle of the first millennium C.E., more early historical states are known (for example, Chenla, Dvaravati, Champa, Kedah, and ̋rivijaya). These states exhibit a shared incorporation of Indian legal, political, and religious ideas and institutions, including the use of Sanskrit names by rulers, as seen in stone in- scriptions (first in South Indian and then in indigenous scripts) and in the layout and styles of religious architecture and carvings.’ ’From the middle of the first millennium C.E., more early historical states are known (for example, Chenla, Dvaravati, Champa, Kedah, and ̋rivijaya). These states exhibit a shared in- corporation of Indian legal, political, and reli- gious ideas and institutions, including the use of Sanskrit names by rulers, as seen in stone inscriptions (first in South Indian and then in indigenous scripts) and in the layout and styles of religious architecture and carvings.’
[1]
’Jayavarman I was the great-grandson of Ishanavarman. His inscriptions indicate the tightening of central power and control over a considerable area, the creation of new titles and admin- istrators, and the availability of an army, the means of defense and destruction. A text described how King Jayavarman’s commands were obeyed by “innumerable vassal kings.” Jayavarman also strengthened the legal code: “Those who levy an annual tax, those who seize carts, boats, slaves, cattle, buffaloes, those who contest the king’s orders, will be punished.” New titles were accorded highly ranked retainers who fulfilled important posts in government. One lineage held the priestly position of hotar. Another functionary was a samantagajapadi, chief of the royal elephants, and a military leader; the dhanyakarapati would have controlled the grain stores. The king also appointed officials known as a mratan and pon to a sabha, or council of state. Another inscription prescribes the quantities of salt to be distributed by barge to various foundations and prohibits any tax on the ves- sels going up- or downriver. Thus Jayavarman I intensi- fied royal control over dependent fiefs begun by his great-grandfather, Ishanavarman. Thereafter this dynasty loses visibility, although the king’s daughter, Jayadevi, ruled from a center in the vicinity of ANGKOR.
[2]
[1]: (Bacus 2004, 619) [2]: (Higham 2004, 75) |
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’We do not know if Funan was a unitary state, as the Chinese descriptions seem to suggest, or a series of competing centers. Whichever was the case, certain trends are found which were to contribute to the character of later complex polities in Southeast Asia. The handful of surviving inscriptions, for example, indicates that the local rulers adopted Sanskrit language and took Sanskrit names. Indian religious and legal systems were adopted as well.’
[1]
’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’
[2]
’Slavery was an integral part of what must have been a highly stratified society. Justice was rudimentary, but a legal code probably existed and like that of India (and that of Angkor and post-Angkorean Cambodia) included trial by ordeal. Innocence might be decided if a suspect was not eaten after being thrown to the ubiquitous crocodiles.’
[3]
An inscription makes a reference to the "five great crimes" which seems to be a reference to those recorded in Hindu law, suggesting a strong link between the legal code in Funan and that of India.
[4]
[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590) [2]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475) [3]: (Tully 2005, p. 12) [4]: (Higham 1989, p. 249) |
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|
’We do not know if Funan was a unitary state, as the Chinese descriptions seem to suggest, or a series of competing centers. Whichever was the case, certain trends are found which were to contribute to the character of later complex polities in Southeast Asia. The handful of surviving inscriptions, for example, indicates that the local rulers adopted Sanskrit language and took Sanskrit names. Indian religious and legal systems were adopted as well.’
[1]
’We have a detailed description of an early South-east Asian trading state, following a visit to the Mekon Delta by Kang Tai, an an emissary of the Chinese emperor. Sent to explore a maritime trade route in the third century AD, he encountered a state controlled by a ruling dynasty, with its own legal and taxation systems, which kept written records, and defended cities.’
[2]
’Slavery was an integral part of what must have been a highly stratified society. Justice was rudimentary, but a legal code probably existed and like that of India (and that of Angkor and post-Angkorean Cambodia) included trial by ordeal. Innocence might be decided if a suspect was not eaten after being thrown to the ubiquitous crocodiles.’
[3]
[1]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590) [2]: (Higham 2011, pp. 474-475) [3]: (Tully 2005, p. 12) |
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|
"Mali rulers enforced customary law when it suited them and preserved ancient ceremonials." Some of the ruling classes and merchant classes were Muslim, everyone else pagan.
[1]
"It was customary for rulers of Western Sudan kingdoms to hold what were called audiences, during which ordinary citizens could submit complaints and legal disputes."
[2]
They were held in public and one was witnessed by Ibn Battuta on his 1352-1353 visit.
[2]
Judges and legal experts. [3] Islamic law. Judges chosen by Mansa. Mansa ultimate legal authority. [4] [1]: (Lapidus 2012, 592) [2]: (Conrad 2010, 52) [3]: (Niane 1984, 152) [4]: (Niane 1984, 160) |
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|
Askia Muhammed Toure (r.1493-1529 CE) ’appointed the first qadi of Jenne and extended Islamic judicial administration to other towns by establishing courts and appointing judges.’
[1]
Increasingly, law became Islamic law and a legal system developed that was independent of tribal chiefs, although customary law continued.
[2]
[1]: (Lapidus 2012, 593) [2]: (Cissoko 1984, 196, 199-202) |
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|
There was a legal system. However, there is no indication that the legal system is uniform or formal. "The presence of the certain class boundary between the Kitan’s grand people (Chinese ji) and ordinary nomads (Chinese shujen) is confirmed, particularly, the fact that, if the representative of the aristocratic social group has made legal wrongs, he could be transferred to the commoners (Wittfogel, Feng 1949: 193). The aristocrats of different ranks were charged small taxes and were freed from public works. In case of commission of crime, the Kitan aristocrats were punished by milder penalties than other categories of subjects. In case that they were inflicted to penal confinement, their living conditions were fairly good and, in any event, they were freed from servile labor."
[1]
[1]: (Kradin 2014, 155-156) |
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|
Morgan argues that the evidence does not support that claim that the Mongols had a written legal code - Chingiz Khan’s ’Great Yasa’. He argues instead that they had "a body of unwritten Mongol customary law" and that Chingis’ maxims or utterances were recorded and used in customary law.
[1]
There is also disagreement about how Mongol customary law and Shari’ia law may have co-existed in Muslim territories. Successful coexistence seems to depend on the particular Khan.
[2]
[1]: David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford: Blackwell, 2nd ed. 2007), pp.85-87 [2]: 1. Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 161. |
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|
"Unlike the Xianbei, they established a more centralized imperial confederation with systematic warrior registration and rules of behavior. However, there was no written legal system or functionaries to administer laws beyond the military."
[1]
"As regards rights and laws, we have no data whatsoever on courts, appeals, written law, the existence of a penal code, specialised functionaries overseeing the obersvation of law in the Rouran khaganate."
[2]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 224) [2]: (Kradin 2005, 166) |
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|
"The chiefs of bu, tribes or simple chiefdoms, fulfilled the following functions: [...] Judicial: the settlement of disputes concerning the territories where nomads live, stealing of livestock, violation of customs, mutilation, murders, etc. When Tanshihuai came to power he laid out ‘law rules for disposition of cases between innocent and guilty and nobody dared to break them’ (Ibid.: 75, 330). The same duties are also mentioned with respect to his son, Helian (Ibid.: 80). One of the reasons for Kebineng’s election as a chief was his equitable investigation of lawsuits (Ibid.: 324). However, it is unlikely that these actions were based on written law; "
[1]
Seems to have varied depending on the chief. "Judicial: resolution of disputes concerning the territories where nomads live, stealing of livestock, violation of customs, mutilation, murders etc. When Tanshihuai came to power he laid out Maw rules for disposition of cases between innocent and guilty and nobody dared to break them (Taskin 1984: 75, 330). The same duties are also mentioned with respect to his son, Helian (Taskin 1984: 80). One of the reasons give for Kebineng’s election as a chief was his equitable investigation of lawsuits (Taskin 1984: 324). However, it is unlikely that these actions were based on written law."
[2]
[1]: (Kradin 2011, 199) [2]: (Kradin 2014, 145) |
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|
"The power of chanyu, highest commanders and tribal chiefs at local places was supported by strict but simple traditional ways. As the Xiongnu laws were estimated by the Chinese chronicles, the Xiongnu’s punishments were generally “simple and easily realizable” and were mainly reduced to strokes, exile, and death penalty. It provided an opportunity to quickly resolve conflict situations at different levels of the hierarchical pyramid and to maintain the stability of the political system as a whole. It is no mere chance that for the Chinese, accustomed from childhood to an unwieldy and clumsy bureaucratic machine, the management system of the Xiongnu confederation seemed to be extremely simple: “management of the whole state is similar to that of one’s body” (Sima Qian 1959, ch. 110; Zhongyang 1958, 17)."
[1]
"One of the most important sign of the early state is the presence of a written code of laws, which the Xiongnu are lacking."
[2]
[1]: (Kradin 2011, 92) [2]: (Kradin 2011, 94) |
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|
A formal legal code is assumed absent as the only evidence for writing during this period is from the carved stone slab (Monument 3) at San José Mogote.
[1]
[1]: Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London, p130 |
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|
"The power of chanyu, highest commanders and tribal chiefs at local places was supported by strict but simple traditional ways. As the Xiongnu laws were estimated by the Chinese chronicles, the Xiongnu’s punishments were generally “simple and easily realizable” and were mainly reduced to strokes, exile, and death penalty. It provided an opportunity to quickly resolve conflict situations at different levels of the hierarchical pyramid and to maintain the stability of the political system as a whole. It is no mere chance that for the Chinese, accustomed from childhood to an unwieldy and clumsy bureaucratic machine, the management system of the Xiongnu confederation seemed to be extremely simple: “management of the whole state is similar to that of one’s body” (Sima Qian 1959, ch. 110; Zhongyang 1958, 17)."
[1]
"One of the most important sign of the early state is the presence of a written code of laws, which the Xiongnu are lacking."
[2]
[1]: (Kradin 2011, 92) [2]: (Kradin 2011, 94) |
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|
"In 1640 the Qalqa and the Oyirad gave up their traditional enmity to form an alliance in the face of the growing threat from the Ch’ing Empire, and jointly promulgated a Mongol-Oyirad Code. The existence of a unified code does not necessarily presuppose that of a unified nation. The Code was in the tradition of Mongol laws since the Yasa of Chingis Khan in that it was applicable only to cases involving more than one of the member groups of the alliance. The Code notwithstanding, a chief had a full possession of his subjects, and cases arising within a group were left to be disposed of by the group itself."
[1]
"the Oirats governed themselves pursuant to a document known as the Great Code of the Nomads (Iki Tsaadzhin Bichig). The Code was promulgated in 1640 by them, their brethren in Dzungaria and some of the Eastern Mongols who all gathered near the Tarbagatai Mountains in Dzungaria to resolve their differences and to unite under the banner of the Gelugpa sect. Although the goal of unification was not met, the summit leaders did ratify the Code, which regulated all aspects of nomadic life." [2] [1]: (Miyawaki 1984, 178) [2]: Tsem Rinpoche. September 21, 2010. Kalmyk People’s Origin - VERY INTERESTING. Accessed: January 26, 2018. http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/kalmyk-peoples-origin-very-interesting.html |
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|
Islamic law. "In former times the people of this country professed paganism until the year 469/1076-1077 when Yahya b. Abu Bakr the amir of Masufa made his appearance."
[1]
"Au sommet de l’État, on a le roi; on le désigne sous plusieurs appellations « Kaya Maghan » qui signifie roi de l’or en langue Ouakaré, « Tounka » qui veut dire Seigneur ou Dieu. Ses pouvoirs étaient très étendus: il était le juge suprême. Il rendait la justice en tenant compte de l’appartenance religieuse. Ses sujets qui dans l’ensemble appartenaient à la religion traditionnelle étaient jugés selon la coutume,les musulmans, eux, l’étaient sur la base du Coran." At the top of the state, was the King; means the under several names "Kaya Maghan" meaning gold king in language Ouakaré "Tounka" meaning Lord or God. His powers were very extensive: he was the supreme judge. He dispensed justice in the light of religious affiliation. His subjects in all belonged to the traditional religion were judged according to custom, Muslims, themselves, were based on the Koran. [2] [1]: (Al-Zuhri c1130-1155 CE in Levtzion and Spaulding 2003, 24-25) [2]: (Kabore, P. http://lewebpedagogique.com/patco/tag/ouagadou/) |
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|
King was supreme judge. While his subjects were judged according to custom, Muslims were permitted to be judged according to the Koran.
"Au sommet de l’Etat, on a le roi; on le désigne sous plusieurs appellations Kaya Maghan qui signifie roi de l’or en langue Ouakare, Tounka qui veut dire Seigneur ou Dieu. Ses pouvoirs etaient tres etendus: il etait le juge supreme. Il rendait la justice en tenant compte de l’appartenance religieuse. Ses sujets qui dans l’ensemble appartenaient a la religion traditionnelle etaient juges selon la coutume,les musulmans, eux, l’etaient sur la base du Coran." At the top of the state, was the King; means the under several names "Kaya Maghan" meaning gold king in language Ouakare "Tounka" meaning Lord or God. His powers were very extensive: he was the supreme judge. He dispensed justice in the light of religious affiliation. His subjects in all belonged to the traditional religion were judged according to custom, Muslims, themselves, were based on the Koran. [1] [1]: (Kabore, P. http://lewebpedagogique.com/patco/tag/ouagadou/) |
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|
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.
[1]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.
[1]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.
[1]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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|
There probably was no formal legal code as writing was not developed until the arrival of the Spanish. "There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms."
[1]
[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236) |
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|
There probably was no formal legal code as writing was not developed until the arrival of the Spanish. "There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms."
[1]
[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236) |
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|
"Garcilaso de la Vega (1965 [1609] Book 4, Chapter 19) cites the lost chronicle of Blas Valera, which credits the sixth Inka with the development of a system of laws and punishments."
[1]
There were legal codes covering the social and administrative
[2]
but there was no writing system. "For instance, they do not seem to have created a formal system of laws or a separate judiciary."
[2]
[1]: (Covey 2003, 347) [2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 358) |
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|
There were legal codes covering the social and administrative
[1]
but there was no writing system. "For instance, they do not seem to have created a formal system of laws or a separate judiciary."
[1]
Alan Covey: Inca law was largely divided between management of the Inca population of Cuzco (overseen by the Inca ruler), the maintenance of Inca interests in provincial areas (done by noble Inca inspectors and “confessors”), and the practice of local custom in provincial communities. Low-level kurakas had limited power to punish serious crimes, which was done periodically by Inca governors.
[2]
Coded as present following Alan Covey’s explanations.
[3] "Guaman Poma credits Wiraqocha Inka with the development of a judicial system." [4] [1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 358) [2]: (Covey 2015, personal communication) [3]: (Bauer 2004, 22) [4]: (Covey 2003, 347) |
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|
There probably was no formal legal code as writing was not developed until the arrival of the Spanish. "There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms."
[1]
[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236) |
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|
No evidence has been found of state organisation at Mehrgarh.
[1]
[2]
Likewise in the context of the broader Harappan tradition there are no deciphered textual records from this period, or the Mature Harappan period, which suggest the presence of a legal code.
[3]
[1]: Gregory L. Possehl. The Indus Civilization. A Contemporary Perspective. Walnut Creek, Altamira, 2002, p. 6 [2]: Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge [3]: Burjor Avari. India: The Ancient Past. A History of the Indian sub-continent from c.7000 BC to AD 1200. Oxon, 2007, p.51 |
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|
The Greek legal code seems to have been in practice in the other Greek successor states.
[1]
In terms of the details of how this would have been administered, we have little information.
[2]
Scholarship since the 1960s has not clarified this assessment.
[1]: Tarn, William Woodthorpe. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press, 2010. p. 63 [2]: "History gives no information...on such important matters as administration of justice", George Woodcock, The Greeks in India (1966), p. 106 |
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|
The legal code was a fusion of Muslim law, and existing Hindi law codes regarding caste. The legal code was two tiered, with the non-muslim dhimmis allowed to practice there religion but also to pay a tax for the privilege. Alongside this legal system was a system known as Panchat or Bhayat.
[1]
[1]: Maclean, Derryl N. ,Religion and society in Arab Sind. pp. 22-49-50 |
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|
The legal code was a fusion of Muslim law, and existing Hindu law codes regarding caste. The legal code was two tiered, with the non-muslim dhimmis allowed to practice there religion but also to pay a tax for the privilege. Alongside this legal system was a system known as Panchat or Bhayat.
[1]
[1]: Maclean, Derryl N. ,Religion and society in Arab Sind. pp. 22-49-50 |
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|
"While other kings simply rendered judicial decisions in accord with their knowledge of [Buddhist] Dharma, the kings of Ayudhya issued real legislation, formal codes of civil and criminal law--law that by definition was mutable, temporal, and changeable. To Ramathibodi I are attributed various titles of Ayudhya’s law, including the Law of Evidence, the Law of Offences against the Government, the Law of Receiving Plaints, the Law of Abduction, the Law on Offences against the People, the Law concerning Robbery, and the Law of Husband and Wife"
[1]
. This refers to the early phase of Ayutthaya, but there is nothing to indicate that late-phase Ayutthaya jettisoned their legal traditions.
[1]: (Wyatt 1984, pp. 71-72) |
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|
"In 1805, [Rama I] appointed a commission of judges and scholars to examine the entire corpus of Siamese law. He directed its members to establish, revise and edit a definitive text of all the laws, after which ’His Majesty would himself strive to revise those laws that were irregular or defective so that they would be in accordance with justice.’ The resulting code, the Three Seals Laws, served the state for the next century."
[1]
[1]: (Wyatt 1984, pp. 146-147) |
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|
Following polity: "The statute-book, the judiciary, and courts of law with their prisons and instruments of punishment, were unknown"
[1]
.
[1]: J. Monette, History of the discovery and settlement of the valley of the Mississippi, by the three great European powers, Spain, France, and Great Britain (1971 [c. 1846]), p. 191 |
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|
Al-Mu’izz "was responsible for the promulgation and implementation of a distinctive Isma’ili law, mainly formulated by al-Qadi al-Nu’man, which aimed at imprinting with an Isma’ili character every aspect of life."
[1]
"The establishment of the Fatimid rule in North Africa, and the subsequent extension of its power to Egypt, made imperative the development of an Ismaili legal system. This became necessary in order to regulate the religious and juridical affairs of both the Ismaili and non-Ismaili communities living under Fatimid rule, as well as the distribution of responsibilities between the da’wa (mission) and dawla (state)." [2] This required elaboration and codification of the official Fatimid doctrines and legal system." [2] [1]: (Cortese and Calderini 2006, 18) Cortese, Delia. Calderini, Simonetta. 2006. Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. [2]: (Cortese 2003, 3) Cortese, Delia. 2003. Arabic Ismaili Manuscripts: The Zahid Ali Collection. I.B. Tauris. |
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|
"... the collection we have called The Laws ... consists of some 200 clauses, the earliest surviving version of which dates to the Old Kingdom, around 1650 BC. From references it makes to revisions to previous laws we know there must have been an even earlier version, probably going back to the reign of the original Labarna, the earliest known Hittite monarch... only one New Kingdom version, the so-called ’Late Parallel Version’, contains any substantive revisions."
[1]
Archaeological research in the twentieth century has produced interesting findings, demonstrating the existing legal culture of the Hittites. The result of this research is to find two pieces of code of the Hittite from the end of the XV or the beginning of the XIV century BC, and therefore subsequent to the Code of Hammurabi, early and from a set of assarynian law, including customary law. Also found Hittite texts of several laws and contracts concluded with Egypt. One of the pieces of that code was given to us in two editorial and this is the year 1390 BC and later contains only 22 articles. Recognition of specific issues in the code allows you to present as part of the most general laws of the Hittite. [2] Public Law In terms of political system, the law regulates the powers and duties of Hittite warriors from the tribe of Manda presumably later Medes or would be the position of slaves who knows the different types (public and private). More specifically, however, deals with the Hittite code of criminal law. A feature of his in this area is greater than humanity criminal legislation of other peoples of the Ancient East . Penalties for offenses are too harsh and often meets next penalty fines for damages in nature. Qualification of murder and murder of passion or would be unintentional homicide near complete removal of private vengeance, argues with already developed legal concepts , but on the other hand, determination of penalties in a casuistic points to the primitive nature of the legislation. [2] Private Law Family law is based on the exogamous patriarchal family organization, since endogamous marriage within the family is forbidden under death penalty. In the field of trade and commerce law, there are set prices for individual goods, thereby controlling the development of economic relations in the country. The uniformity of legislation throughout the Hittite is intended to more closely anastomosis various neighboring provinces of the country of Hatti. [2] [1]: (Bryce 2002, 34) [2]: Hoffner H. A.Jr. (1997) The Laws of the Hittites: a Critical Edition, Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill |
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|
Special building in the imperial palace for administration.
[1]
Codex Justinianus (in the form of simplified extracts and translations into Greek).
[2]
"In 741 Leo III and Constantine V issued a brief codification of Roman law, the Ecloga (selection), based on a combination of Justinianic law with Old Testament morality". [3] "Between 600 and 800: private legal codes: The Farmer’s Law (Georgikos Nomos) and the Rhodian Sea Law." [4] [1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences. Personal Communication [2]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [3]: (Haldon 2008, 258) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Haussig 1971, Chronological Table) Haussig, H W.trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson. |
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|
"The Byzantine Empire’s legal system dated back to the original Roman Laws of the Twelve Tables and continued through every imperial reign’s additions and alterations. In addition, the intersections between religion and politics were also embedded into the legal system so that it became difficult to separate cannon (i.e., religious) from civil law in the way they were separated in the west. When the emperor Justinian commissioned the collection and codification of all Roman law into one massive encyclopedic source, this was the first time in over a thousand years of Roman legal practice that such a task had been attempted."
[1]
"Codex Justinianus (in the form of simplified extracts esp. translation into Greek - "Basilika" - under Basil I and Leon VI at the end of the 9th century). [2] Leo VI (886-912 CE) who followed Basil I: "set up a legal commission that carried out his father’s intent to codify all of existing Byzantine law. This was accomplished in a work of 60 books that occupied six volumes, variously called the Exavivlos or the Vasilika (Basilika). The Vasilika was comprehensive, presenting in the Greek language virtually all the laws in the Justinian Corpus, arranged here (as it had not been before) in a systematic manner." [3] (Actually Leo VI was the son of Michael III who had Basil the Macedonian divorce his wife so he could marry his mistress whom had become pregnant with his son and only heir out-of-wedlock and he was politically/legally unable to marry again). [4] Leo VI’s created Novels (New Laws) to address the latest legal concerns. [5] Epanagoge 879-886 CE. [6] [1]: (Mitchell 2007, 53) Mitchell, Linda Elizabeth. 2007. Family Life in the Middle Age. Greenwood Publishing. Westport. [2]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [3]: (Gregory 2010, 253-254) Gregory, Timothy E. 2010. A History of Byzantium. Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell. Chichester. [4]: (Treadgold 1997) Warren Treadgold. 1997. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. California. [5]: (Gregory 2010, 254) Gregory, Timothy E. 2010. A History of Byzantium. Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell. Chichester. [6]: (Haussig 1971, Chronological Table) Haussig, H W.trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson. |
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|
"Codex Justinianus (in the form of simplified extracts esp. translation into Greek - "Basilika" - under Basil I and Leon VI at the end of the 9th century).
[1]
"Revision of canon law by Theodore Vestes (c.1090)."
[2]
[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (Haussig 1971, Chronological Table) Haussig, H W.trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson. |
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|
Chagatai khans observed the yasaq
[1]
. Hence the same applies as in the Mongol Empire: Morgan argues that the evidence does not support that claim that the Mongols had a written legal code - Chingiz Khan’s ’Great Yasa’. He argues instead that they had "a body of unwritten Mongol customary law" and that Chingis’ maxims or utterances were recorded and used in customary law.
[2]
There is also disagreement about how Mongol customary law and Shari’ia law may have co-existed in Muslim territories. Successful coexistence seems to depend on the particular Khan.
[3]
[1]: (Grousset 1970, 341) [2]: David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford: Blackwell, 2nd ed. 2007), pp.85-87 [3]: 1. Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 161. |
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"... the collection we have called The Laws ... consists of some 200 clauses, the earliest surviving version of which dates to the Old Kingdom, around 1650 BC. From references it makes to revisions to previous laws we know there must have been an even earlier version, probably going back to the reign of the original Labarna, the earliest known Hittite monarch... only one New Kingdom version, the so-called ’Late Parallel Version’, contains any substantive revisions."
[1]
Archaeological research in the twentieth century has produced interesting findings, demonstrating the existing legal culture of the Hittites. The result of this research is to find two pieces of code of the Hittite from the end of the XV or the beginning of the XIV century BC, and therefore subsequent to the Code of Hammurabi, early and from a set of assarynian law, including customary law. Also found Hittite texts of several laws and contracts concluded with Egypt. One of the pieces of that code was given to us in two editorial and this is the year 1390 BC and later contains only 22 articles. Recognition of specific issues in the code allows you to present as part of the most general laws of the Hittite. [2] Public Law In terms of political system, the law regulates the powers and duties of Hittite warriors from the tribe of Manda presumably later Medes or would be the position of slaves who knows the different types (public and private). More specifically, however, deals with the Hittite code of criminal law. A feature of his in this area is greater than humanity criminal legislation of other peoples of the Ancient East . Penalties for offenses are too harsh and often meets next penalty fines for damages in nature. Qualification of murder and murder of passion or would be unintentional homicide near complete removal of private vengeance, argues with already developed legal concepts , but on the other hand, determination of penalties in a casuistic points to the primitive nature of the legislation. [2] Private Law Family law is based on the exogamous patriarchal family organization, since endogamous marriage within the family is forbidden under death penalty. In the field of trade and commerce law, there are set prices for individual goods, thereby controlling the development of economic relations in the country. The uniformity of legislation throughout the Hittite is intended to more closely anastomosis various neighboring provinces of the country of Hatti. [2] [1]: (Bryce 2002, 34) [2]: Hoffner H. A.Jr. (1997) The Laws of the Hittites: a Critical Edition, Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill |
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"... the collection we have called The Laws ... consists of some 200 clauses, the earliest surviving version of which dates to the Old Kingdom, around 1650 BC. From references it makes to revisions to previous laws we know there must have been an even earlier version, probably going back to the reign of the original Labarna, the earliest known Hittite monarch... only one New Kingdom version, the so-called ’Late Parallel Version’, contains any substantive revisions."
[1]
Archaeological research in the twentieth century has produced interesting findings, demonstrating the existing legal culture of the Hittites. The result of this research is to find two pieces of code of the Hittite from the end of the XV or the beginning of the XIV century BC, and therefore subsequent to the Code of Hammurabi, early and from a set of assarynian law, including customary law. Also found Hittite texts of several laws and contracts concluded with Egypt. One of the pieces of that code was given to us in two editorial and this is the year 1390 BC and later contains only 22 articles. Recognition of specific issues in the code allows you to present as part of the most general laws of the Hittite. [2] Public Law In terms of political system, the law regulates the powers and duties of Hittite warriors from the tribe of Manda presumably later Medes or would be the position of slaves who knows the different types (public and private). More specifically, however, deals with the Hittite code of criminal law. A feature of his in this area is greater than humanity criminal legislation of other peoples of the Ancient East . Penalties for offenses are too harsh and often meets next penalty fines for damages in nature. Qualification of murder and murder of passion or would be unintentional homicide near complete removal of private vengeance, argues with already developed legal concepts , but on the other hand, determination of penalties in a casuistic points to the primitive nature of the legislation. [2] Private Law Family law is based on the exogamous patriarchal family organization, since endogamous marriage within the family is forbidden under death penalty. In the field of trade and commerce law, there are set prices for individual goods, thereby controlling the development of economic relations in the country. The uniformity of legislation throughout the Hittite is intended to more closely anastomosis various neighboring provinces of the country of Hatti. [2] [1]: (Bryce 2002, 34) [2]: Hoffner H. A.Jr. (1997) The Laws of the Hittites: a Critical Edition, Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill |
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royal ordinances (prostagmata) "…it is true that the Successors, like Alexander before them, represented the ultimate source of law for the cities. While epigraphic evidence suggests that the kings were not quite so prone to flaunt these powers as the literary tradition would have it - royal ordinances (prostagmata) for example, are enshrined in the city laws by means of popular decree, at the tactful request, rather than the order, of the king - the fact remains that their powers of intervention in this sphere were very wide; nor did they hesitate to use them when necessary."
[1]
[1]: Lund, H. S. (1992) Lysimachus: A study in early Hellenistic kingship. Routledge: London and New York. p138 |
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Coded present for New Kingdom of Hatti (predecessor). "Carchemish and probably Malatya apparently continued from their Late Bronze Age predecessors with little or no interruption."
[1]
Tabal region (Konya Plain): "There is nothing in the material record to indicate that it was significantly affected by the upheavals at the end of the Late Bronze Age, or by the collapse of the Hittite empire. Certainly there is no evidence of a shift of peoples from it in this period."
[2]
[1]: (Bryce 2012, 63) [2]: (Bryce 2002, 43) |
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"An important place in the administration was occupied by the muhtasib (market inspector), whose task it was to ensure order in the market, to check the accuracy of weights and measures in the bazaar, to guarantee the quality and standard of goods, and also to ensure that the inhabitants observed practices enjoined by Muslim law."
[1]
[1]: (Mukminova 2003, 53) |
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"In the field of religion and culture, the nineteenth century is said to have witnessed the golden age of Islam in the Futa Jalon. It was the century of great scholars and the growth of Islamic culture. All the disciplines of the Quran were known and taught: translation, the hadiths, law, apologetics, the ancillary sciences such as grammar, rhetoric, literature, astronomy, local works in Pular and Arabic, and mysticism."
[1]
[1]: (Barry 2005: 539) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/6TXWGHAX/item-list |
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From 15th century Ottomans had secular law called kanun which coexisted with the religious law, shari’a.
[1]
"Kanun regulated areas where the provisions of the sacred law were either missing or too much at at odds with reality to be applicable. These, in the Ottoman Empire as in other Islamic polities, were above all in the areas of criminal law, land tenure, and taxation. The origins of the secular law lay in custom, and it was long usage that in the first place gave it legitimacy." [1] Justice system was the seriat, Islamic law, decided by the ulema religious establishment. [2] Mehmet II "promulgated the first systematic legal codes dealing with the organization of the state and the obligations of subjects." [3] "In matters of government administration, Ottomman law applied to all subjects, but in matters of family and business law, it applied only to Muslims. Non-Muslims had their own communal law and courts. In practice, however, Jews and Christians commonly had recourse to Ottoman courts in order to assure enforcement, or to have state guarantees for commercial and property transactions, or to win an advantage in marital and inheritance disputes." [4] [1]: (Imber 2002, 244) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Palmer 1992) [3]: (Ira Lapidus with Lena Salaymeh 2012, 442) [4]: (Lapidus 2012, 442) |
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From 15th century Ottomans had secular law called kanun which coexisted with the religious law, shari’a.
[1]
"Kanun regulated areas where the provisions of the sacred law were either missing or too much at at odds with reality to be applicable. These, in the Ottoman Empire as in other Islamic polities, were above all in the areas of criminal law, land tenure, and taxation. The origins of the secular law lay in custom, and it was long usage that in the first place gave it legitimacy." [1] Justice system was the seriat, Islamic law, decided by the ulema religious establishment. [2] Mehmet II "promulgated the first systematic legal codes dealing with the organization of the state and the obligations of subjects." [3] "In matters of government administration, Ottomman law applied to all subjects, but in matters of family and business law, it applied only to Muslims. Non-Muslims had their own communal law and courts. In practice, however, Jews and Christians commonly had recourse to Ottoman courts in order to assure enforcement, or to have state guarantees for commercial and property transactions, or to win an advantage in marital and inheritance disputes." [4] [1]: (Imber 2002, 244) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Palmer 1992) [3]: (Ira Lapidus with Lena Salaymeh 2012, 442) [4]: (Lapidus 2012, 442) |
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From 15th century Ottomans had secular law called kanun which coexisted with the religious law, shari’a.
[1]
"Kanun regulated areas where the provisions of the sacred law were either missing or too much at at odds with reality to be applicable. These, in the Ottoman Empire as in other Islamic polities, were above all in the areas of criminal law, land tenure, and taxation. The origins of the secular law lay in custom, and it was long usage that in the first place gave it legitimacy." [1] Justice system was the seriat, Islamic law, decided by the ulema religious establishment. [2] Mehmet II "promulgated the first systematic legal codes dealing with the organization of the state and the obligations of subjects." [3] "In matters of government administration, Ottomman law applied to all subjects, but in matters of family and business law, it applied only to Muslims. Non-Muslims had their own communal law and courts. In practice, however, Jews and Christians commonly had recourse to Ottoman courts in order to assure enforcement, or to have state guarantees for commercial and property transactions, or to win an advantage in marital and inheritance disputes." [4] [1]: (Imber 2002, 244) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [2]: (Palmer 1992) [3]: (Ira Lapidus with Lena Salaymeh 2012, 442) [4]: (Lapidus 2012, 442) |
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According to L.H. Morgan, there was no formal penal code: ’Crimes and offences were so unfrequent under their social system, that the Iroquois can scarcely be said to have had a criminal code. Yet there were certain misdemeanors which fell under the judicial cognizance of the sachems, and were punished by them in proportion to their magnitude. Witchcraft was punishable with death. Any person could take the life of a witch when discovered in the act. If this was not done, a council was called, and the witch arraigned before it, in the presence of the accuser. A full confession, with a promise of amendment, secured a discharge. But if the accusation was denied, witnesses were called and examined concerning the circumstances of the case; and if they established the charge to the satisfaction of the council, which they rarely failed to do, condemnation followed, with a sentence of death. The witch was then delivered over to such executioners as volunteered for the purpose, and by them was led away to punishment. After the decision of the council, the relatives of the witch gave him up to his doom without a murmur.’
[1]
But according to Lyford, there was an orally transmitted constitution validated by wampum beads: ’The League of the Iroquois was governed by a carefully worked out constitution that was transmitted orally from one generation to another by certain leaders (lords or sachems) whose business it was to learn and to recite the laws and regulations. For many generations these laws and regulations were recorded in a collection of wampum belts and strings, twenty-five of which are preserved today in the New York State Museum, whose director has been proclaimed “the keeper of the wampums.”’
[2]
Expert feedback on the matter is needed.
[1]: Morgan, Lewis Henry, and Herbert M. Lloyd 1901. “League Of The Ho-De’-No-Sau-Nee Or Iroquois. Vol. I”, 321 [2]: Lyford, Carrie A. 1945. “Iroquois Crafts”, 9b |
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According to L.H. Morgan, there was no formal penal code: ’Crimes and offences were so unfrequent under their social system, that the Iroquois can scarcely be said to have had a criminal code. Yet there were certain misdemeanors which fell under the judicial cognizance of the sachems, and were punished by them in proportion to their magnitude. Witchcraft was punishable with death. Any person could take the life of a witch when discovered in the act. If this was not done, a council was called, and the witch arraigned before it, in the presence of the accuser. A full confession, with a promise of amendment, secured a discharge. But if the accusation was denied, witnesses were called and examined concerning the circumstances of the case; and if they established the charge to the satisfaction of the council, which they rarely failed to do, condemnation followed, with a sentence of death. The witch was then delivered over to such executioners as volunteered for the purpose, and by them was led away to punishment. After the decision of the council, the relatives of the witch gave him up to his doom without a murmur.’
[1]
But according to Lyford, there was an orally transmitted constitution validated by wampum beads: ’The League of the Iroquois was governed by a carefully worked out constitution that was transmitted orally from one generation to another by certain leaders (lords or sachems) whose business it was to learn and to recite the laws and regulations. For many generations these laws and regulations were recorded in a collection of wampum belts and strings, twenty-five of which are preserved today in the New York State Museum, whose director has been proclaimed “the keeper of the wampums.”’
[2]
Expert feedback on the matter is needed.
[1]: Morgan, Lewis Henry, and Herbert M. Lloyd 1901. “League Of The Ho-De’-No-Sau-Nee Or Iroquois. Vol. I”, 321 [2]: Lyford, Carrie A. 1945. “Iroquois Crafts”, 9b |
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"The urban community, n’b—nàf, had rights of its own in Sogdiana. This is specified in the legal texts."
[1]
. A lawsuit is mentioned: "Without mentioning the case of Maniakh, who mounted an expedition from the Altai to Byzantium, and to whom I will return at greater length below, it is enough to recall the case of Nanai-vandak, who wrote to Samarkand from Guzang/Wuwei, and to compare it with the lawsuit of the Cao family against the Chinese merchant Li of Chang’an: the range of activity in this instance was from Almalig, in the Ili valley north of the Tianshan, to Chang’an, which is not exactly local!"
[2]
"The contract for the lease of the bridge at Panjikent shows that relatively complex legal and commercial formulae were in contemporary use in Sogdiana."
[3]
"On the other hand, we do not possess the texts of any Sogdian laws. We know of their existence from a reference in an inscription on the great painting of Samarkand, but nothing of them has reached us.44 Further to the south, Syriac texts have preserved scraps of the commercial regulations of the Sassanid Empire, and testify to a developed organization of commerce. A detailed jurisprudence made allowances for the risks of long-distance trade (shipwreck, fire, confiscations or plundering) in the rules of compensation in case of bankruptcy, organized the collective ownership of merchandise and the distribution of the shares in case of a separation of the partners, and fixed the rates of interest for merchants providing themselves with credit and counting on the profits from sales for their reim- bursement.45 We can only suppose the existence of such rules among the Sogdians, but the proofs are lacking."
[4]
[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 168) [2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 165) [3]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 170-171) [4]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 171) |
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Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity.
Most law in south Arabia was tribal law, a customary law, determined by ancient practice. This could only be changed by "paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together." [1] In south Arabia official edicts also were a source of law and could be made by ’the gods, via an oracle transcribed by their temple servants, and kings, in consultation with tribal councils". [2] Royal decrees were made by kings in the Ancient period of Saba (c800-450 CE) and by the Himyarites. [3] Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity. "The Mercantile Code of Qataban dates to about 110 BC and is a market proclamation designed to centralise trade in recognised markets, facilitate the collection of taxes and regulate prices. The code specifies that ’the King of Qataban has authority over all transactions and goods within his territory’. These powers allowed the king to set prices paid for cinnamon imports in Eudaimon [Aden] and Timna. The prices would be fixed so that royal agents could maximise the profits gained by selling state-owned stocks of the incoming aromatics." [4] [1]: (Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 127) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [3]: (Korotayev 1996, 114) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden. [4]: (McLaughlin 2014, 138-139) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley. |
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Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity.
Most law in south Arabia was tribal law, a customary law, determined by ancient practice. This could only be changed by "paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together." [1] In south Arabia official edicts also were a source of law and could be made by ’the gods, via an oracle transcribed by their temple servants, and kings, in consultation with tribal councils". [2] Royal decrees were made by kings in the Ancient period of Saba (c800-450 CE) and by the Himyarites. [3] Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity. "The Mercantile Code of Qataban dates to about 110 BC and is a market proclamation designed to centralise trade in recognised markets, facilitate the collection of taxes and regulate prices. The code specifies that ’the King of Qataban has authority over all transactions and goods within his territory’. These powers allowed the king to set prices paid for cinnamon imports in Eudaimon [Aden] and Timna. The prices would be fixed so that royal agents could maximise the profits gained by selling state-owned stocks of the incoming aromatics." [4] [1]: (Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 127) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [3]: (Korotayev 1996, 114) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden. [4]: (McLaughlin 2014, 138-139) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley. |
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Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity.
Most law in south Arabia was tribal law, a customary law, determined by ancient practice. This could only be changed by "paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together." [1] In south Arabia official edicts also were a source of law and could be made by ’the gods, via an oracle transcribed by their temple servants, and kings, in consultation with tribal councils". [2] Royal decrees were made by kings in the Ancient period of Saba (c800-450 CE) and by the Himyarites. [3] Some codified law may have existed for merchant activity. "The Mercantile Code of Qataban dates to about 110 BC and is a market proclamation designed to centralise trade in recognised markets, facilitate the collection of taxes and regulate prices. The code specifies that ’the King of Qataban has authority over all transactions and goods within his territory’. These powers allowed the king to set prices paid for cinnamon imports in Eudaimon [Aden] and Timna. The prices would be fixed so that royal agents could maximise the profits gained by selling state-owned stocks of the incoming aromatics." [4] [1]: (Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 127) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. [3]: (Korotayev 1996, 114) Andrey Vitalyevhich Korotayev. 1996. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Socio-political Organization of the Sabaean Cultural Area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden. [4]: (McLaughlin 2014, 138-139) Raoul McLaughlin. 2014. The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India. Pen and Sword Military. Barnsley. |
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"Evidence that the magistrates who judged the citizens and counselled them were following sound doctrine was a psychologically necessary reassurance. Within a few centuries after the rise of Islam the rules were compiled into voluminous compendia of law by various schools of jurists working for the most part independently of the secular authorities."
[1]
[1]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. |
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Multiple codes present, as well as combinations of some of them. "[I]n 1740 country councils (landraden) came into operation, comprising European and indigenous judges whose job was to settle disputes about land ownership. The customary law of Jaffna (Tesavalamai) had already been recorded in 1707, and in the 1760s, on the orders of Governor Falck, a start was made on recording Sinhalese landsrecht or customary law. Something similar could be seen happening simultaneously in Java (Cirebon), albeit on a much smaller scale. Although the judicial authorities could thus rely on specific customary law, they could also, as in other parts of the Dutch empire both at home and abroad, apply so-called Roman-Dutch law, a mixture of Roman law and the law of the Province of Holland."
[1]
[1]: (Emmer and Gommans 2020: 293) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/AI9PPN7Q/collection. |
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“But with the establishment of the office of the k’adi and the growing application of Islamic law (Shari’a) in matters such as inheritance and marriage, the council’s jurisdiction was much reduced.”
[1]
[1]: (Lewis 2001, 42) Lewis, Herbert S. 2001. Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NRZVWSCD/collection |
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Regarding the Ajuran Sultanate Mukhtar claimed “Islamic shari’a (jurisprudence) was the rule.”
[1]
As a Muslim sultanate, Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.”
[2]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 35) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Mukhtar/titleCreatorYear/items/J8WZB6VI/item-list [2]: (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Coulson/titleCreatorYear/items/S4S75T39/item-list |
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Sha afi Law. “With a long tradition of trading connections to the Arabian Peninsula, the Somalis were converted to Islam at an early date and remain staunch Muslims (Sunnis, of the Sha afi School of Law).”
[1]
[1]: (Lewis 2008, 1-2) Lewis, Ioan M. 2008. Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York, Columbia University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Understanding%20Somalia/titleCreatorYear/items/7J425GTZ/item-list |
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"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy."
[1]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list |
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“The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law.”
[1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection |
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The following quote lists Sharia law as present. “Residents of Harar and its environs regard the city as an Islamic center of learning that ‘uniquely merges Sunni Islam within the city, Shari’a courts and a diverse Islamic education system based on Qurani schools and commentaries on the Quran.”
[1]
[1]: (Ben-Dror 2018, 15) Ben-Dror, Avishai. 2018. Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian: Colonial Experiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Harar. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CHS87GBI/collection |
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Sha afi Law. “With a long tradition of trading connections to the Arabian Peninsula, the Somalis were converted to Islam at an early date and remain staunch Muslims (Sunnis, of the Sha afi School of Law).”
[1]
[1]: (Lewis 2008, 1-2) Lewis, Ioan M. 2008. Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York, Columbia University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Understanding%20Somalia/titleCreatorYear/items/7J425GTZ/item-list |
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This appears to be based on the Shariah. “Though the taxation system was regularized by the Caliphate from being extortionist and overburdening as it used to be by sanctioning only those taxes which were legislated by the Shariah, the mode of assessment, collection and administration also became flawed as time went by.”
[1]
[1]: Okene, Ahmed Adam, and Shukri B. Ahmad. “Ibn Khaldun, Cyclical Theory and the Rise and Fall of Sokoto Caliphate, Nigeria West Africa.” International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 4, 2011, pp. 80–91: 88. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/H7J2NC37/collection |
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Some form of Sharia law seems to have been in place. “It is also necessary to understand precisely what we mean when we say that Borno has become an Islamic State as from the very date its precursor State of Kanem came to be converted to Islam in large scale, and on an on-going and increasing basis, indeed, up to the time of its termination by imperialist forces at the beginning of the twentieth century. First, the Islamic State differs from the secular State of western social science notion from both the point of view of its orientation as well also as the source of its authority and the role of responsibilities of its leaders and its citizens, vis-a-vis the modern secular nation state. Law in the Islamic State is not the product of human decision and action. Goals are not indeterminate and open-ended. The laws are revealed in the Book of Allah, the Qur’an and the Sunna (the practices and sayings of the 229 Prophet) and the goals are already pre-determined and set. All Muslims are equal before this law; and the ruler and the ruled are adjudged equally in all respects of their personal life and conduct, before their Creator, on the day of judgement. Thus, while the ruler can be adjudged and punished for lapses in his conduct of his office as well as of his life, private as well as public, the ruled is equally adjudged and punished in respect of his personal conduct, civil or criminal. Indeed, however, Muslim state craft so much recognized the power of the ruler over the ruled and in determining criminality and infraction that, whatever the fate of polity, it is the ruler and not the ruled that is blamed, as he carries vicarious responsibility. Imam Ahmad ibn Fartua, the chief Imam and chronicler of Mai Idris Alauma of Borno (1570 A.D.-1616 A.D.) meant exactly that, when he said: ... Every age has its great men, and extols each of them according to his faith and works. The crown of leadership is purity in justice ... ... Thus every people relies on imitation of its leaders. The leader goes before and the people follow him ... Most excellent is the fame of just deeds, and justice on the part of a king for one day is equal to service of God for sixty years ... ... A place where there is an evil Sultan is better than a place which has none.”
[1]
[1]: Tijani, K. (1993). THE MUNE IN PRE-COLONIAL BORNO. Berichte Des Sonderforschungsbereichs, 268(2), 227–254: 228-229. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2VQBX7DW/collection |
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Sharia law. “The tokolor revolution resulted in the replacement of one elite by another, and in the creation of a society within which the Sharia, the Muslim law, was enforced.”
[1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection |
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Sharia law. The following quote suggests that Sharia law was present in the Empire of Great Fulo. “In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.”
[1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection |
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"As there existed no codified law, no formal tribunals, no structure for appealing judicial decisions, no separation between civil and criminal law, no distinction between a judicial session and a general audience, the king and the queen mother settled disputes according to their own wishes. When they felt they had been slighted or wronged, they summoned the culprits and sentenced them without further ado."
[1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 89-90) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection. |
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Dharmasutras. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.”
[1]
[1]: (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection |
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Dharmasutras. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.”
[1]
[1]: (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection |
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Dharmasutras. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.”
[1]
“Danti Varman succeed his father in 796 A.D. In the Bahur copper plate inscription, Danti Varman is praised for restoring law and order and for promoting Dharma.”
[2]
[1]: (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection [2]: (Kamlesh 2010, 566) Kamelsh, Kapur. 2010. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In History of Ancient India: Portraits of a Nation. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UETBPIDE/collection |
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Dharmasutras. The following quote refers the Dharmasutras which deals with certain social and legal codes for the Brahmin community thus, it does not pertain to Buddhist or Jain religions. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.”
[1]
[1]: (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection |
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As a Muslim sultanate, Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.”
[1]
[1]: (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Coulson/titleCreatorYear/items/S4S75T39/item-list |
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As a Muslim sultanate, Islamic law and Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.”
[1]
[1]: (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/S4S75T39/collection |
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As partly Islamic polity it is highly likely that Sharia Law would be present. “In contrast, Harlaa was at least partially Islamised and its inhabitants participated in long distance trade in the 12th -13th centuries.”
[1]
[1]: (Insoll 2017, 208) Insoll, Timothy. 2017. ‘First Footsteps in Archaeology of Harar, Ethiopia’. Journal of Islamic Archaeology. Vol 4:2. Pp 189-215. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/VQ38B374/collection |
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As a Muslim sultanate, Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.”
[1]
[1]: (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Coulson/titleCreatorYear/items/S4S75T39/item-list |
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Oyo Mesi is the Oyo Empire term for the broader Yoruba role of Igbimo: “The authority of the chiefs of state and the Igbimo extended to the performance of judicial functions. Their authority in this realm straddled the dimension of Directiveness and the exaction of compliance to judgments that they handed down in capital cases from members of the society. In this capacity, they constituted the Supreme Court in the central polity with the sole authority to try capital cases and other ‘indictable offences such as murder, treason, burglary, arson, unlawful wounding, manslaughter, incest … ’ (Fadipe, 1970: 209), as well as disputes between occupants of authority positions and appeals that emanated from lower judicial bodies in the constituent polities. The authority to grant pardons of all types belonged to the chiefs of state in its entirety. They and members of the Igbimo handled regular cases in regular sessions of the Igbimo during the course of the week while special sessions were convened when the occasion called for them (Fadipe, 1970). The fact that executions and jail terms were exacted in the capital by designated institutions in the state bureaucracy (Bascom, 1955; Fadipe, 1970; Akintoye, 1971) indicated the presence of some measure of regulated regimentation in the Yoruba authority patterns (Ejiogu, 2004).”
[1]
There were at least legal systems/precedents and clear rules for escalation, if not formal codes. “A further aspect of metropolitan interference in the local administration of the provincial towns was that in judicial matters their rulers were subordinated to the Alafin. Johnson observes: ’The [local] King’s civil officers judge all minor cases, but all important matters are transferred to the Alafin of Oyo, whose decision and laws were as unalterable as those of the ancient Medes and Persians.’ Judicial reference to the Alafin meant in practice judgement by the Ona lwefa, the palace eunuch who regularly deputized for the Alafin in judicial matters. The precise categories of cases which had to bebrought before the Ona lwefa are unclear. Disputes between provincial rulers were naturally judged at the capital. It is also generally agreed that disputes which could not be settled by the local ruler and his chiefs, or in which the disputants were not satisfied with their decision, might be taken to be judged at Oyo.”
[2]
[1]: Ejiogu, EC. ‘State Building in the Niger Basin in the Common Era and Beyond, 1000–Mid 1800s: The Case of Yorubaland’. Journal of Asian and African Studies vol.46, no.6 (1 December 2011): 600. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2H2CJNHP/collection [2]: Law, R. (1977). The Oyo Empire c. 1600 – c. 1836: A West African Imperialism in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Oxford University Press: 103. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB32ZPCF/collection |
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“In local thought, the king’s primary function was the exercise of judicial authority and the maintenance of judicial order. This idea was given symbolic expression in the interval between the death of one king and the installation of his successor, when crimes could be committed with impunity, as one European observer explained, ‘as tho’ the death of the king put an end to all manner of reason and justice.’”
[1]
“A similar ambiguity of perception can be seen in European accounts of the administration of justice in Whydah. Although the king was clearly regarded as the supreme judicial authority in the kingdom (and in particular seems to have enjoyed the sole right to inflict capital punishment), he normally exercised his judicial functions in serious cases with the advice of a council of leading chiefs. But whereas one account asserts that he could only condemn offenders to death "on the advice of his great men," another claims that he was not obliged to follow the council’s advice but could act "according to his royal will and pleasure." This contradiction, as suggested earlier, may reflect dis- agreements about the legitimate extent of the royal prerogative within the Whydah ruling elite itself.”
[2]
“What is clear is that those chiefs who served as governors of subordinate villages of the kingdom enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy in their local administration: as was noted in the 1690s, ‘these in the King’s absence and in their Vice-royalties, command as arbitrarily and keep up as great state as the King himself.’ The governors exercised an independent local judicial authority in minor cases, acted as spokesmen before the king on behalf of those under their government, and transmitted their tribute to him.”
[3]
“The second letter of the third section of the 1688 Description comprises an extended description of the kingdom of "Juda" or Whydah (133-38). Barbot describes the natural resources of the country, the conduct of the European trade there, the local king and his court, the local religion (especially the veneration of snakes), the administration of justice (including a form of trial by ordeal, the accused being obliged to swim across a crocodile-infested river), burial customs (including human sacrifice), the ceremony of the blood pact, agriculture and crafts, weaponry, the local currency (of cowry shells), domestic slavery and polygamy, and much else besides.”
[4]
[1]: Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 205. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection [2]: Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 208. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection [3]: Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 208–209. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection [4]: Law, Robin. “Jean Barbot as a Source for the Slave Coast of West Africa.” History in Africa, vol. 9, 1982, pp. 155–73: 159. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4D6NU7J/collection |
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There are no mentions of a formal or written code, but many references to the Ibini Ukpabi oracle playing a key judicial role. Any disputes which couldn’t be resolved locally might be sent on to the oracle. So there were clearly social rules in place, but they may have differed throughout the confederacy in form and application. “Ibini Ukpabi played a highly accepted governmental role until corruption came into it like any other human system. The organization of the oracle reflected the organization of Igbo and indeed that of Aro Kingdom. Eze Aro was represented in all of Igbo land including Idoma whose king Ochidoma actually come from the original name given by Eze Aro himself as Onyenachi Idoma; Onitsha whose first Obi was installed by Eze Aro; Ihiala where Eze Aro sent ogwugwu –a branch of Ibini Ukpabi, etc. These representatives were consulted on every matter by their people until the matter became heavy enough to reach Aro land. The Eze Aro himself referred cases to Eze Ibom isii when Ibini Ukpabi was needed to intervene. Eze Ibom isii called the Ibini Ukpabi chief priest who tried such cases too until they were found fit for the ‘supreme God’ to get involved. That was – a point of no return. This means that the Ibini Ukpabi chief priest only took over when the Eze Ibom isii could no longer handle any such cases. Let us note that in the Igbo traditional setting, the oracle held executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The knowledge here is being elucidated by the known practice of having Aro villages in the Igbo hinterland till date.”
[1]
“Violations of the sacred laws of Ala were seen as taboos and were regarded as the most serious offense that an individual could commit in Igbo society (Am, Alu). The taboos covered a wide spectrum of crimes ranging from incest to stealing farm crops. C. K. Meek’s study offers an insightful analysis of the centrality of Ala in the Igbo system of jurisprudence: "Ala is the fountain of human morality, and in consequence, a principal legal sanction. Homicide, kidnapping, poisoning, stealing, adultery [...] and all offenses against Ala must be purged by rites to her. Ala deprives evil men of their lives, and her priests are the guardian of public morality. Laws are made in her name, and by her, oaths are sworn. Ala is in fact, the unseen president of the community" (Meek 1937:25)”
[2]
“Let us note that in the Igbo traditional setting, the oracle held executive, legislative, and judicial powers.”
[3]
“Equally, a justice system was controlled by the Aro. Before the formation of the chiefdom, an oracle of very local significance, Ibini-Ukpabi, was controlled by the Ibibio. It has been pointed out that during the Aro strife, Nachi, the itinerant Edda priest-doctor whom the Igbo invited to make war medicine against the Ibibio, initiated and "developed it from a comparatively local oracle to the widespread power which it attained" (Mathews 1927a: 9). Shortly, Ibini-Ukpabi drew a large population towards Arochukwu from far and wide. The oracle became famous; it was believed, "because of the precision with which it detected crimes, deciphered the unfamiliar and forecast the unknown" (Dike and Ekejiuba 1978: 273). […] In an acephalous system, justice within each village group appears to have been administered as fairly and satisfactorily as in any chiefdom system. However, the weakness of the acephalous mode of government was in dealing with intervillage relationships and disputes. Where land was plentiful, village groups might expand without clashing with one another. But as population density grew, inter- village and -town disputes were certain to increase, and there was clearly no established mechanism to deal with them. Such disputes were more in- tense in matters of land, property, inheritance, and persistent warfare. "Sometimes the only recourse that could be agreed upon was to consult an out- side agency, the Aro or another oracle" (Ottenberg 1958: 303). […] Impartial justice was becoming a ser- vice for which the society demonstrated a need. It had become a scarce commodity which the Aro monopolized.”
[4]
“He noted that the Aro indigenous system was founded on a "clan" basis whereby matters of importance were deliberated on by a special body fully representative of the whole chiefdom while allowing each town the power to regulate purely domestic affairs. […] Shankland concentrated only on the precolonial administrative and judicial systems of the Aro”.
[5]
[1]: Innocent, Rev. (2020). A Critical Study on the Ibini Ukpabi (Arochukwu Long Juju) Oracle and its Implications on the International Relations During the 20th Century. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(10): 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZXZGZSM3/collection [2]: Oriji, J. N. (2009). Transformations in Igbo Cosmology during Slavery: A Study of the Geneses of Place-Names, Totems & Taboos. Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 49(196), 953–967: 954. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KEADDRZW/collection [3]: Innocent, Rev. (2020). A Critical Study on the Ibini Ukpabi (Arochukwu Long Juju) Oracle and its Implications on the International Relations During the 20th Century. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(10): 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZXZGZSM3/collection [4]: Nwauwa, A. O. (1995). The Evolution of the Aro Confederacy in Southeastern Nigeria, 1690–1720. A Theoretical Synthesis of State Formation Process in Africa. Anthropos, 90(4/6), 353–364: 359. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/G4DWA3GQ/collection [5]: Nwauwa, A. O. (1992). On Aro Colonial Primary Source Material: A Critique of the Historiography. History in Africa, 19, 377–385: 383. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/DINGJJC2/collection |
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“In Idah, the capital of the Igala kingdom as well as in the districts, disputes among individuals and groups were settled before family heads. Those between one family group and another were settled by heads of both group and family who sought to reach compromise for the purpose of peace and stability. In the districts, the district rulers referred to as the Onu exercised both judicial and executive powers; the village chiefs popularly called Omadachi and Gago handled divorce cases, land disputes and several other minor cases but cases of murder and treason were reserved exclusively for Attah’s attention. Attah’s court (Ogbede) was the highest court located in front of Ede market which day’s cases were heard publicly. Attah was the president of the court but because of many engagements, such power was delegated to one of the senior eunuchs called Ogbe who acted as president of the court. Ogbe acted as president of the court took final decisions on minor and non complicated cases while serious ones would be referred to the Attah for final decisions. Available records reveal that Ochalla Angna and Olimamu Attah both Islamic clerics served as court scribes (what is today known as court clerks) and records of proceedings were written and kept in Arabic. This system was and is very effective as few cases are expected to be reported to the police. Acrimony and bitterness which could arise from cases reported to the police were reduced to the barest minimum.”
[1]
[1]: Jacob, Audu. “Pre-Colonial Political Administration in the North Central Nigeria: a Study of the Igala Political Kingdom.” European Scientific Journal, vol. 10, no. 19, 2014, pp. 392–402: 399. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5AN8R7UW/collection |
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“The paramouncy of Ala in Igbo cosmology, and the dominant role she played in defining the moral codes of governance and political order have been noted by Uchendu, P. A. Talbot, G.H. Jones and many others. C. K Meek was then right when he stated that: Ala was the fountain of human morality, and in consequence, a principal legal sanction. Homicide, kidnapping, poisoning and stealing, adultery and all offenses against Ala must be purged by rites to her. Ala [deprives] evil men of their lives, and her priests [are] the guardians of public morality. Laws [are] made in her name and by her oaths [are] sworn. Ala [is] in fact the unseen president of the community. Ala served other legal functions. As an example, boundaries of lineage and village lands were demarcated with mounds or perennial trees representing her, and it was a taboo for anyone to destroy them. It is noteworthy that laws of Ala were not confined to only humans. They encompassed the lower animals that thrive on earth.”
[1]
[1]: Oriji, J. (2007). The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality and Disorder in Igbo Mini States. Dialectical Anthropology, 31(1/3), 263–288: 270. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/46MVQP3M/collection |
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“In the 1450s, the Fulani came to Hausaland from Mali, bringing ’books on divinity and etymology’ (formerly only books on law and the traditions had been known); the end of the century witnessed the arrival of a number of rif (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) and the vigorous Muslim cleric, al-Maghîlï.”
[1]
[1]: Niane, D. T., & Unesco (Eds.). (1984). Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Heinemann; University of California Press: 272. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ERZKPETN/collection |
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“The king, as we have seen, was supreme judge, with power of life and death over his subjects. There was, however, a well organized hierarchy of courts. Village chiefs dealt only with civil disputes. Criminal cases were adjudicated by the provincial governor or the king’s councillors. At village level there was a court of first instance only; sanctions were limited to fines and short periods of imprisonment. Village chiefs supervised trials by ordeal.The provincial chief had wider powers. He could inflict the bastinado or impose lengthy periods of imprisonment. In all cases, however, the death penalty was the king’s prerogative.”
[1]
[1]: Lombard, J. (1976). The Kingdom of Dahomey. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 70–92). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 89. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/T6WTVSHZ/collection |
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At least in the core of the Benin Empire: “In independent Benin Kingdom, for example, there were well thought-out rules in that meant the most salient criteria of modern law. Although it was unwritten, the body of law in Benin Kingdom was well known by the people as its principles were expressed in proverbs, fables and other forms of documentation and it ’was latent in the breasts of the court remembrances and engraved in the mind of the leadership classes who could say the position of the law at any instance. Omoniyi Adewoye points out that the fact that some laws were not written does not make them ’less real than the written codes of continental Europe’.”
[1]
“Egharevba asserts that the laws in Benin had fixed punishment for various crimes. Perjury, larceny, receiving stolen property, manslaughter, burglary and false accusation were punishable by heavy fine or imprisonment, while the more serious offences such as murder, rape, sorcery, witchcraft, spying, malicious administering of medicines, the practising of quack remedies and treason were punishable by execution, banishment or sometimes only imprisonment. Conspiracy to steal, murder, or to undermine the law of the land was considered a serious offence, and the culprit would be punished by flogging, binding, heavy fine or long term of imprisonment. These rules governing the Onotueyevbo’s relations with the districts and other evidence of the availability of sound laws in Benin kingdom in addition to these penal codes clearly showed that there were laws in pre-colonial Benin kingdom.”
[2]
[1]: Ojo, I. O. (2020). The Nature of Laws and Law Making in Precolonial Benin. Polac Historical Review (PHR), 4(1), 89–103: 90. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PEIZ5U3P/collection [2]: Ojo, I. O. (2020). The Nature of Laws and Law Making in Precolonial Benin. Polac Historical Review (PHR), 4(1), 89–103: 99. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PEIZ5U3P/collection |
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Specific rites were practiced in case or certain crimes being committed, and there was an established hierarchy of what cases went before the Aku. “[T]he Aku-Uka, in a way did not directly and physically take part in the administration of the community in pre-colonial era. In this regard, he was surrounded by a council, which C.K Meek described as a patrician caste, and they were responsible for the day to day administration. At the head of the caste, was the Abo-Acio whose position and functions could be likened to a modern day Prime minister. The Abo-Acio was the // “channel of communication between the Aku-Uka and the people. The people had to get to the Aku-Uka through the Abo-Acio. That is to say that he was the representative of the people in their relations with the king, who was the representative of the gods. He was the king’s principal adviser, and had access to the king at any time. He reported matters of importance to the king on daily basis. He disposed of all judicial cases which did not require the king’s personal investigation.”
[1]
“Taking cognizance of the theocratic system of the administration, the priests constituted another important group of administrators within the Jukun political system. The Ku-Puje Acio with his assistant served as the Chief Priest of Puje, an important cult among the wapa Jukun. There was the Kenjo cult, the Yaku cult, the Achu-Nyande etc. Each of these cults had specific set of functions which they performed. For instance, the Achu-Nyande served a judicial function in the sense that, being a cult of lightning, rites were performed in cases of theft and was believed that lightning would strike the culprit.”
[2]
[1]: Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 125–126. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection [2]: Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 128. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection |
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The following quote suggests that a legal code was present in the Kingdom of Cayor. “Each province then, which contains many villages, is governed either by a Laman, or by a Laman and a Fara together, and of course all the villages in each are subject to their orders. There is besides, in each village, an officer totally distinct from the former. This officer is called the Gueraff. He may be considered as the mayor of the village, for it is his business to take cognizance of any violation of the laws, to bring the offenders to trial, and to repot the case, with the decision upon it, to the king.”
[1]
[1]: (The Philanthropist no. II 1811, 205) 1811. ‘Manners and Customs of the People of Cayor, Sin and Sallum’ In The Philanthropist no. II. London: Longman and Company. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C5553ITD/collection |
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The following quote suggests that Sharia law was likely present as the quote mention marabouts (Islamic religious men) were legal advisors to the wealthiest in Wolof society. “The wealthiest members of society were in a position to employ marabouts, even very learned ones, as servants in their household- personal chaplains, scribes, legal advisors and tutors to their children. Some of the most famous clerics in the Sahel served in this capacity at various courts before moving out in later life to establish independent estates/schools.”
[1]
[1]: (Colvin 1986, 66) Colvin, Lucie G. 1986. ‘The Shaykh’s Men: Religion and Power in Senegambian Islam.’ Asian and African Studies. Vol. 20:1 Pp. 61-71. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GZTDTN6Q/collection |
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Dharmasutras. The following quote refers to the Dharmasutras, which include social and legal codes for the Hindu community, especially Brahmin men. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.”
[1]
[1]: (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection |
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The following quote suggests that there was some legal system within the Early Pandya kingdom during the Sangam Age. “Some other officials of the Sangam Age included Mandirakkanakkar (scribes in-charge of royal correspondence and were also known as Mandira Olai), Arakkalttu Andanar (judicial advisers) Tandira Vinainar (executive officials doing odd clerical jobs). Dharma Vinainar (discharging religious duties) and Ayakkanakkar (in charge of revenue collection).”
[1]
[1]: (Agnihotri 1988, 353) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection |
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The following quote suggests that a formal legal code was likely present. “Visvanatha’s arrangement in this respect was a practical solution of the difficulties he was confronted with. He pacified his clamours adherents and old, discontented chiefs by conferring on them a dignified status and definite proprietary rights over portions of land. By making the cession hereditary their self-love was flattered and their sense of responsibility increased. They were given complete powers of police and judicial administration.”
[1]
[1]: (Sathyanatha Aiyar 1991, 74) Sathyanatha Aiyar, R. 1991. History of the Nayaks of Madura. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databak/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/E2S7TSI5/collection |
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The quote below suggests that legal affairs were informal matters for local leaders rather than carried out through Sharia law. “As power devolved to local leaders, customary rather than Sharia’atic law dominated political relations at the local level. We saw in the previous section how the saints of Somali tradition contributed to the evolution of xeer (customary law) in the various communities where they settled. They mediated disputes, helped assess blood-wealth (diya) payments, and assisted at rituals of reconciliation. Such mediation was particularly critical in the evolving Rahanwiin confederations, which typically consisted of lineages of diverse genealogical origins and perhaps different marriage and inheritance customs.
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 130) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library |
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The following quote suggest that there was not a formal legal code, but instead there was a group of local arbitrators for various communal disputes. “Every gafo (aggregate of houses) had its clan elder, called duke niho, father of the people, who was a functionary only in the most general sense of the word, acting as an arbitrator in disputes and as a link between his gafo and that of the rashe showo. In fact, all of the positions lower than rashe showo were engaged primarily in matters of justice. The duke niho was considered to be a nali areto or ari gecho, ‘one who knows’. The tatikisho and the gudo were also in the category of ‘those who know,’ and they were asked to arbitrate and to sit in judgement in all cases affecting a gafo or subdistrict. Usually the duke niho was asked his opinion, but a binding judgement was left to the tatikisho. If this judgement was not acceptable to either of the parties, they could appeal to the gudo. Up to this level decisions could involve the division of a piece of land or compensation for damages. The rashe showo represented the next level of appeal, although the right to arrest people or to lock them in irons was reserved for the worabi rasho.”
[1]
[1]: (Orent 1970, 292) Orent, Amnon. 1970. ‘Refocusing on the History of Kafa Prior to 1897: A Discussion of Political Processes’. African Historical Studies. Vol. 3:2. Pp 263-293. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2A389XGK/collection |
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levels. "We emphasise from the beginning that our historical knowledge of kings and the length of their reigns, and of the political structure and organisation of Kaabu remains very limited."
[1]
[1]: (Giesing and Vydrine 2007: 4, quoted in Green 2009: 92) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/V2GTBN8A/collection. |
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"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977)."
[1]
Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: "Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known."
[2]
Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable.
[1]: (Ogundiran 2005: 151-152) [2]: (Law 1977: 33) |
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“Mexico’s transition from colony to republic was prolonged and fitful especially regarding the development of an independent body of criminal law and procedure. The protracted Wars of Independence (1810–21), the era of Santa Anna (1833–55), the War of Reform (1858–61), and the French Intervention (1862–27) delayed the nation’s juridical break from its colonial past. Even though leaders initiated early attempts to make new laws, a half century of political pandemonium thwarted the codification of a national civil code until 1870 and a national penal code until 1871. Both codes oozed with liberalism, that drew on the heritage of José María Morelos and other early heroes, who deserve credit for enshrining liberal principles into the minds of all Mexicans. Equality of individuals before the law, fair taxation, and popular sovereignty composed the mantra of early statesmen.”
[1]
“Political chaos and violence characterized the nation’s early history, yet leaders set out right away to enshrine liberal values in the first Constitution (1824). At the same time, several states took up the task of developing civil and penal codes. The state of Oaxaca devised the first civil code in all of Latin America in 1828 and the state of Veracruz developed the first penal code in the nation in 1835. Both drew on models from France and Spain. National penal and civil codes would take longer, both coming to fruition during the Restored Republic after 1867. Until the promulgation and enactment of the Penal Code of 1871, magistrates relied on colonial law or hastily enacted decrees to prosecute crime through the tumultuous first half-century of independence. When Benito Juárez and his fellow liberals recaptured power, the long stalled cadre of jurists set out to bring their vision of criminal jurisprudence and reform to fruition.”
[2]
[1]: (Sloan 2011: 302) Sloan, Kathryn A. 2011. “The Penal Code of 1871: From to Civil Control of Everyday Life,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 302–15. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N74WVZX2 [2]: (Sloan 2011: 304) Sloan, Kathryn A. 2011. “The Penal Code of 1871: From to Civil Control of Everyday Life,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 302–15. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N74WVZX2 |
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Bohemia had its own laws which were codified in the 12th century. Laws were issued directly from the monarch who was believed to have the divine right to legislate: “Seen through medieval optics, only a pious king can be a wise judge and a peacemaker, by punishing, taking people’s lives, issuing laws and making just war. This is because only a pious king is a ruler sent by God. Such observations urge us to consider the further social roles of the medieval sovereign.”
[1]
“Ondřej z Dube wrote his Bohemian Land Law (Práva zemská česká) in a complex legal culture filled with a variety of laws and jurisdictions, among them ecclesiastical (canon) law, royal law, customary law, urban law, and land law. In one respect the inhabitants of the kingdom of Bohemia shared one law: the privileges associated with being a special electorate of the Empire. By the end of the fourteenth century, Bohemia’s inhabitants could not be cited to appear before an alien court, that is, one outside the kingdom, and the kingdom, as an electorate, was not subject to the Empire the same as other lands within the Empire during an interregnum. Therefore, any discussion of law in the other imperial lands can be for comparative or narrative purposes only. Bohemia’s varieties of laws appeared in different forms, some in codices and books by glossators, some in formularies, some in proverbs, such as the proverbs from Dalimil and Smil Flaška cited at the beginning of this chapter. The Bohemian Land Law was both written and understood in the context of these varieties of law existing together in an entanglement. As in most medieval communities, more than one type of law had jurisdiction in the kingdom of Bohemia in the late Middle Ages. In fact, different laws had jurisdiction in different cases. A brief overview of these types of law makes clear that inhabitants of the Empire and Bohemia lived in a web of jurisdictions. Urban and mercantile law were types of law to which city dwellers were subject. In some medieval German cities, such as Freiburg, jus civilis made burghers free — free from the law that prevailed in the countryside, but still subject to law that governed trade, the primary function of such towns.”
[2]
[1]: (Antonin 2017: 268) Antonín, Robert. 2017. The Ideal Ruler in Medieval Bohemia, trans. Sean Mark Miller, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450. Leiden; Boston: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/G2S9M8F6 [2]: (Grant 2014: 31) Grant, Jeanne E. 2014. For the Common Good: The Bohemian Land Law and the Beginning of the Hussite Revolution, East Central and Eastern in the Middle Ages, 450–1450. Leiden; Boston: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCJGUZZZ |
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“In addition to the courts of Chancery and Exchequer, there were in London common law courts of King’s Bench and Common Pleas, the former for cases, both civil and criminal, in which the Crown was involved, the latter for civil suits, especially those involving property, contract, or debt, between subjects. Common law was the body of law that had evolved out of judicial precedent and custom. It was uncodified, as opposed to statute law, which was created by acts passed by Parliament and approved by the king.”
[1]
[1]: (Bucholz et al 2013: 49) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U |
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The Sobornoe Ulozhenie (Соборное уложение) was a comprehensive legal code enacted during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. It was the first consolidated set of laws in Russia and remained in effect until the modernization reforms of the 19th century.
[1]
[1]: Gregory Freeze, Russia: A History (Oxford University Press, 1998). Zotero link: 4PTARV3W |
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Laws were codified and enforced by the king, his officials in the local courts, and bishops and priest. In the preceding polity, King Alfred had established a code of law which incorporated laws from the other kingdoms to create a central English law as part of his vision to unify the entire of England under one kingdom. This was now the central law of the Kingdom of England.
[1]
[1]: (Roberts et al 2014: 29-31) Roberts, Clayton, Roberts, F. David, and Bisson, Douglas. 2014. ‘Anglo-Saxon England: 450–1066’, in A History of England, Volume 1, 6th ed. Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P2IHD9U3 |
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“The monumental codification of civil law in 1812 was based on the principles of equality of all before the law.”
[1]
[1]: (Curtis 2013: 271) Curtis, Benjamin. 2013. The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty. London; New York: Bloomsbury. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TRKUBP92 |
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Prior to Islamisation in the fourteenth century, the Golden Horde’s legal system was Mongol customary law and its nomadic laws were codified. After the conversion to Islam, the Horde followed the Muslim religious laws of Shar’iat.
[1]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 93. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM. |
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“A ‘Declaration of Rights and the Laws of 1839’ provided the first criminal and civil code and the first regularization of taxation for the Hawaiian people. It has also been considered the first Hawaiian constitution. In many respects, the promulgation of the constitution of 1840, together with the legislation of 1841, completed the transformation of the Hawaiian system into a capitalist political economy with vestigial remains of the highly stratified system of ancient Hawaii.”
[1]
“In the Civil Code, compilation of which was provided for by the legislature of 1856 and which was enacted in the legislative session of 1858-59, the earlier postal laws (of 1846, 1851, and 1854) were revised, expanded, and codified as sections 397-415 of the Code.”
[2]
[1]: (Beechert 1985: 25) Beechert, Edward D. 1985. Working in Hawaii: A Labour History. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/338XH58H [2]: (Kuykendall 1938: 32) Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson. 1938. The Hawaiian Kingdom. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. http://archive.org/details/hawaiiankingdom0002kuyk. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QJ4Z7AAB |
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The earliest surviving law codes from c. 600 CE for Kent state that the king, Æthelbert of Kent, had responsibility for law and order of all people within his kingdom.
[1]
“The introduction of written law into Kent provides an example of the type of borrowing which may have taken place. Bede says that Æthelbert produced the first written lawcode for Kent iuxta exempla Romanorum, but in practice the king seems to have been more influenced by Frankish than Roman forms.125 The provision of a written lawcode was a sign, like the adoption of Christianity, that Kent had joined the more advanced Germanic kingdoms of Europe and the writing down of Æthelbert’s lawcode may have had a symbolic as well as a practical value. Although there are major differences between the Kentish and Frankish lawcodes, there are also some interesting parallels which are particularly striking when the Kentish laws are compared with those from Wessex.”
[2]
[1]: (Yorke 1990: 18) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN [2]: (Yorke 1990: 41) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN |
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There were both written and unwritten laws across the Empire, some of which did not survive in practice as many laws were not codified. The largest territory of the Empire, Germany, had not completely codified its laws until 1806.
[1]
Laws were also local to each member country of the Empire and so it was not uniform across all territories. There were two forms of institutional law; one comprised the rules for the elite population and their homage, vassalage and fealty to the monarch, while canon law was a more widespread form of moral, legal and ecclesiastical laws. Between 1037 and 1158 Emperor’s issued four statutes regarding feudal relations.
[2]
[1]: Wilson 2016: 604. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA [2]: Wilson 2016: 606. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA |
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The earliest surviving law codes from c. 600 CE for Kent state that the king, Æthelbert of Kent, had responsibility for law and order of all people within his kingdom.
[1]
“The introduction of written law into Kent provides an example of the type of borrowing which may have taken place. Bede says that Æthelbert produced the first written lawcode for Kent iuxta exempla Romanorum, but in practice the king seems to have been more influenced by Frankish than Roman forms.125 The provision of a written lawcode was a sign, like the adoption of Christianity, that Kent had joined the more advanced Germanic kingdoms of Europe and the writing down of Æthelbert’s lawcode may have had a symbolic as well as a practical value. Although there are major differences between the Kentish and Frankish lawcodes, there are also some interesting parallels which are particularly striking when the Kentish laws are compared with those from Wessex.”
[2]
[1]: (Yorke 1990: 18) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN [2]: (Yorke 1990: 41) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN |
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Islamic law. “The history of Mawlây Ismâ’ïl is full of outstanding achievements. This ruler completed the task begun by his two brothers - that of unifying Morocco by putting it under a single throne as it had been in the days of its might and greatness. It was he also who strengthened the basis of the state founded by his two brothers and laid the foundations of the State of Morocco that has safeguarded Morocco’s heritage up to the present. Lastly, it was he who saw to it that Muslim law was extended to all parts of Morocco, in order to give the country religious as well as political unity.”
[1]
“The controversy over the enslavement or conscription of all black Moroccans provoked a heated debate and overt hostility between some of the ‘ulama’ (religious scholars) and Mawlay Isma‘il. This was a sharp violation of the most salient Islamic legal code regarding the institution of slavery, which stated that it was illegal to enslave any adherent to Islam. The discourse and needs of the state as advanced by the sultan as a political authority and the discourse and interpretation of the tenets of Islam as advanced by the religious scholars, custodians of Islamic law, collided.”
[2]
[1]: (Ogot 1992: 220) Ogot, B. A. 1992. ed., General History of Africa: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century., vol. V, VII vols. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/24QPFDVP [2]: (El Hamel 2014: 264) El Hamel, Chouki. 2014. Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T9JFH8AS |
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Maliki law. “They administered Maliki law, arbitrated local disputes, and instructed the people in Islam.”
[1]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 431) Lapidus, Ira M. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QW9XHCIW/collection |
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"Almost all the inhabitants of pre-Islamic Arabia were members of a tribe, that is, a mutual aid group bound together by a notion of kinship. As one pre-Islamic poet astutely observed (‘Amr ibn Qami‘a 8), ‘a man’s tribe are his claws [with which he fends off enemies] and his props [which support him]’. Unlike a state, tribes have no specialised institutions of law and order, so a person’s life, honour and goods were protected by his relatives, who were obliged to assist him in trouble and to avenge or seek compensation for him if he was wronged. ‘When fighting comes, your kinsman alone is near; your true friend your kinsman is, who answers your call for aid with good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear’ (H. am. 225)."
[1]
"So tribal law was customary law, deter- mined by ancient practice. It is therefore inherently conservative; ‘We found our fathers on a path and we follow in their footsteps’ was the reply of most Meccans to the Prophet Muhammad’s new message (Quran 43.22, 24). And it is echoed by pre-Islamic Arab poets: ‘We follow the ways of our forefathers, those who kindled wars and were faithful to the ties of kinship’ (‘Abid 20). It could only be updated either by such aforementioned paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together." [2] "Among the wealthier sedentary polities of Arabia there existed a more elaborate legal system with more of an institutional framework. A number of the cities of south Arabia had a council (mswd), and at each of the capital cities there was a supreme council where the king sat along with delegates from a certain number of tribal groups, representing the whole nation and issuing edicts on its behalf. Such an edict might begin as follows: ‘Thus have ordered and directed and decreed Shahr Yagill Yuhargib, the son of Hawfa‘amm, the king of the Qatabanians, and the Qatabanians, the council, having its full complement. . . . ’ (RES 3566). In this particular text it would appear that Shahr Yagill had to fight to maintain his position, for he goes on to complain that ‘some people from the council and community of landowners determined and enforced their decisions by swearing oaths between themselves in that temple in their very self-willed and loutish manner without the sanction of [me] their lord’." [3] [1]: (Hoyland 2001, 113) Hoyland, R. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/hoylan/titleCreatorYear/items/AUHRSTGG/item-list [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Hoyland, R. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/hoylan/titleCreatorYear/items/AUHRSTGG/item-list [3]: (Hoyland 2001, 124) Hoyland, R. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/hoylan/titleCreatorYear/items/AUHRSTGG/item-list |
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Inferred from continuity between preceding and succeeding polities (late Roman Empire and Ostrogothic Kingdom, respectively). "Both in terms of ideology and organization, therefore, Theoderic sought and largely maintained the institutions and administrative procedures of the later western imperial administration as he found them. The same can be said of Rome’s laws. Several letters within the collection stress the need to preserve the rule of Roman law, demand respect for it, reflect upon its fundamental correctness, or even cite it."
[1]
[1]: (Lafferty 2016: 148) Lafferty, S. The Law. In Arnold, Bjornlie and Sessa (eds) A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy pp. 147-172. Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VQ8MC72F/item-list |
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