The European legal tradition has handed down to us the cliché of a marked contrast between common law, assumed to be an oral and exclusively case-law, and civil law, seen as a written and doctrinal law rationalized and formalized through codification. According to this view, common law would have developed, since the 12th century, in continuity with the past and the ancient customs of the country, through the stratification of judicial precedents; while civil law would have developed through the doctrinal interpretation and elaboration of the roman-canon law texts on behalf of the doctores of the Continental Universities. One of the consequences of the presumed dichotomy between the two “systems” of common and civil law – dichotomy destined to take deep root in the European legal consciousness and not challenged until very recently - has been the juxtaposition between the English and Continental systems of legal education. It has been highlighted, infact, that while in England during the Early Modern Period law students were educated in the Inns of Courts through an oral and practical training, on the Continent legal education, held by the Universities spread all over Europe, had a much more theoretical and doctrinal character. The essay challenges the assumption of a marked contrast between the English and Continental systems of legal education during the period under examination. Focusing on the characters of the lecturae and disputationes held at the Italian Universities and the readings and moots practiced at the English Inns of Court, the essay stresses the existence of many similarities between them, showing how the traditional paradigm of the contraposition between common law and civil law cannot be applied tout court to legal education in Europe between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.

Legal Education in England and Continental Europe between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period: a Comparison, in Comparative Legal History: Methodology and Legal Sources, Institutions and Codifications, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK-Northampton, MA 2018 / Freda, Dolores. - (2018), pp. 1-25.

Legal Education in England and Continental Europe between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period: a Comparison, in Comparative Legal History: Methodology and Legal Sources, Institutions and Codifications, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK-Northampton, MA 2018

dolores freda
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2018

Abstract

The European legal tradition has handed down to us the cliché of a marked contrast between common law, assumed to be an oral and exclusively case-law, and civil law, seen as a written and doctrinal law rationalized and formalized through codification. According to this view, common law would have developed, since the 12th century, in continuity with the past and the ancient customs of the country, through the stratification of judicial precedents; while civil law would have developed through the doctrinal interpretation and elaboration of the roman-canon law texts on behalf of the doctores of the Continental Universities. One of the consequences of the presumed dichotomy between the two “systems” of common and civil law – dichotomy destined to take deep root in the European legal consciousness and not challenged until very recently - has been the juxtaposition between the English and Continental systems of legal education. It has been highlighted, infact, that while in England during the Early Modern Period law students were educated in the Inns of Courts through an oral and practical training, on the Continent legal education, held by the Universities spread all over Europe, had a much more theoretical and doctrinal character. The essay challenges the assumption of a marked contrast between the English and Continental systems of legal education during the period under examination. Focusing on the characters of the lecturae and disputationes held at the Italian Universities and the readings and moots practiced at the English Inns of Court, the essay stresses the existence of many similarities between them, showing how the traditional paradigm of the contraposition between common law and civil law cannot be applied tout court to legal education in Europe between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.
2018
978 1 78195 521 5
Legal Education in England and Continental Europe between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period: a Comparison, in Comparative Legal History: Methodology and Legal Sources, Institutions and Codifications, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK-Northampton, MA 2018 / Freda, Dolores. - (2018), pp. 1-25.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11588/580288
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