AN APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE LAI LEGAL TRANSPLANTS LEGAL TRANSPLANTS An Approach to Coinparative La-w SECOND EDITION Alan Watson The University of Georgia Press ATHENS A.ND LONDON r~ Publi,hnl in 1993 by rhc Univmil)' orCc:orpa Athens, Georgia ,o6o1 o 1974 by Abn Wauon Prd:ace and aftcN1ord n 1993 iir Al,n Wauon All ris)1u ,~n,:d Printed digitally in 1hc United Scua of Amc:rka or Libray Congress Cau.l~ing-in-1\ablicuion Da1a Wanon.Alm. Legal tr.uuplants : an ,pp~ to c.omrmtivc r~ I Alan w~i:son - 111d ed. ni. 111 p. : !) an. Origin1'ly published: F..dinbursf.: Scottish Academic Press. 1~174- W.th new aftcn.nrd. Includes bibliographical rd~nas (p. 11S-11J). 1SIN 0-8:0.MSJ:l.·X (a.lk. p;Lper) uw. 1. C.OmrM:1.avc 1. Ronw1 u.w-Rrccplion. ,. C.Cmmon ~w-Rcccption. +. Qvil uw-Rrcc:prion. 1. lidc. ESB., -'17 1993 uo·.1-Jo.o (341) 9Z.·,Jll)9 Briaih Llbnry Cawoging-in-Publiaoon Dan aw.ilablc: For Gcnette and Malcis Dagtoglou CONTENTS PREFACE XI PREFACE TO f IRST EDITION xiii ABBREVIATIONS XV I. COMPARATIVE LAW AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE I Comp:arative Law not jwt a method of study, I: com prises more than one discipline, 3: as :an independent academic discipline is not study of one foreign system or elementary account of variow systems or prinurily matter of drawing comparisons, 4: is study of rclatiomhip between systems, 6 2. THE Pa.tLS Of COMPARATIVE LAW 10 Superficiality. 10: getting foreign law wrong, 10: im pos!libility of being systematic, II: desire to find pattern of development, 12: Diamond's views on the XII Tables, 13: arguing too easily to another system, IS 3. THE Vm.TUES Of COMPARATIVE LAW 16 Understanding of nature oflaw md oflcgal development, 16: systematic study of foreign system, 17: umystc:matic knowledge, 17: the $Ubject matter, historical relation- ship, 18: borrowing md ttansmissibility, 19: rules and their effc cts. I9 4- lNTRODUCilON TO UGAL TRANSPLANTS 21 The paradox, law 'the spirit of the people' yet aamplants of law overwhelmingly common and important, 21: the goring ox in the Ancient Near East, 22: the Roman XII Tables and questionable Greek influence, 25: mediaeval and later development of action for personal disfigure ment, 27: types of major ttansplants, 29 5. ROMANS AND ROMAN LAW IN ROMAN EGYPT 31 Persons, 32: contract, 33: significance of changes, 34: Bentham and English law in Bengal, 3S viii LEGAL TRANSPLANTS 6. ROMAN SYSTEMATICS IN ScOTL\ND 36 Structure ofJ ustinian's J,astil11tt1, 36: of Rtgiam Alajatattm, 36: of Stair's lnstit11tions, 37: of Mackenzie's lnstit11tioru, 37: of Erskine's lnstitutt, 38: ofBd1's Prindpla, 38: of Smith's Short Commentary, 39: of Law School courses, 39: of Dutch Burgerlijk Wttboek, 41: significance of arrangement for attitudes, 41 7. THE RECEmON OF ROMAN LAW IN SCOTLAND 44 Ltga Quatuor Burgomm, 44,: Regia,n Majutatem, 45: 13th century litigation, 45: legal education, 46: Craig's Ius Ftudalt, 46: Hope's Major Prociicks, 47: Stair's Irutitutio,u, 48: ~ckenzie's I1utitutions, 49: 20th-century litigation, 49: Roman rules in Scotlmd, so: Scottish ignorance and Roman law, so: reception md chance, so: and nation.alls~ SI: and :authority, SI: md misbke, 52: 1m1litiosus tltsertor in South Africa, s2: the concept off urt11m 1uus, 53: recep- ss: tion into more primitive system, into very different .ss system, SS: the trust in South Africa, 8. MEANING AND AuraoRITY S7 Drunkenness in Rome and Holbnd, s1: Chapter 2 of l~x ux Aquilia, s8: Romarui Ra~li,a Curiensis, S9 9. Lo Con1 61 Su,nmat Codicis, 61 : lo CoJi, 6.2: Digest and Cotle, 63 10. THE EAJu.y LAW OP THE MAsSACHUSE'ITS BAY COLONY 65 The Charter. 6S: colonists' sepantist tendencies, 66: Tht Gtntral LJmu, 66: Bible and 'C2pial Lawes', 66: on Soclomic, 67: on Rebellious Son, 68: English law, 69: alphabetical arrangement of 'Int ~ntral Lauus. 70 11. ENGLISH LA w IN NEW ZEALAND 7I Persons, 71: contract and torts, 73: property, 73: continuing closeness of English and New Zcalmd law, 1•: a New Zealand tendency, 74 I2. ROMAN LAW IN nm LATE IlEPu»uc 7S Great period of leg.al devdopmcnt, 7S: md of Helleni sation of Rome, 7S: but not of its law, 7S: iniuria, 76: CONTENTS IX o""• 76: systematisation, 77: transplants not essential for major legal development. 77 13. LBX AQu1UA: REamoN AND NoN-RECEPTioN 79 General acceptance of reception, 79: in South Africa, 79: contrary view of Tbomasius, 79i and of Hcincccius 1 So: danger of exaggeration of reception, 81 14. TRANSFE1l OF 0WNERSlDP AND Rist:: IN SALE 82, At Rome, 82: in French Code ci11il, 82: in German Burgtrliches G~tlzbuch, 82: in Switzerland, 82: Pothier, 83: Allgt~ina untlrtchl, 83: Cuiacius, 8.3: Grotius, 83: Pufcndorf, 83: Barbcyrac, 84: inBuc:nccs on Coit civil, 84: other views of Pufcndorf and Grotius, 84: clause de dcssaisinc-saisinc, Bs: 1Volksgcist1 and chance, 85: Savigny ~nd legal details, 86: a speculative point on the Cou d11il, 87 IS. AumOR:TY AGAIN 88 Law given by Yahvch, Apollo and Zeus, 88: codification and natioml heroes, despots and military lc:2dcn, 88 : central role of authority, 89: brain-w2Shing by authority of Romm. bw, 90: Attic law, 90: Scottish Law Com mission, 91: books and lang,ugc, Latin and the bullc of the Corpus Juris Civilis, 93: Blackstone"s Commentarits in Americ:2, 93 16. SOME GENER.AL REFLECTIONS 9S 17. COMP.AllATIVE LAw AND LEGAL HlsTORY 102, Comparative law and history. 102: Louisiana Civil Code of 1808 103: Scottish criminal law, JOS 1 AFTERWORD 107