THE MAJOR LEGAL LANGUAGES

1. THE MAJOR LEGAL LANGUAGES A Comparativeoverview

2. Major legal languages • Legal Latin • Legal German • Legal French • Legal English

3. History of Europe • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9P0QSxlnI

4. Legal Latin

5. Preview • History of the Latin language • The development of Roman law • Major codifications • Latin in European culture • Latin as the language of European ius comune • Latin in modern legal languages • Communication value of legal Latin

6. Ancient Rome

7. Roman kingdom (753 BC-509 BC)

8. Roman kingdom • The city's founding- traditionally dated to 753 BC with settlements around the Palatine Hill along the river Tiber in central Italy, and ended with the overthrow of the kings and the establishment of the Republic in about 509 BC. • The kings, excluding Romulus, who according to legend held office by virtue of being the city's founder, were all elected by the people of Rome to serve for life, with none of the kings relying on military force to gain or keep the throne.

9. Expansion of the Roman Republic (509 BC-27 BC)

10. Expansion of the Roman Empire (Western: 285-476 AD; Eastern: 300-1453)

11. Latin language • Old Latin • Classical Latin • Vulgar Latin • Late Latin • Medieval Latin • Renaissance Latin • Modern Latin • Contemporary Latin

12. Latin language • Old Latin - spoken from the Roman Kingdom to the later part of the Roman Republic period • Classical Latin - during the late republic and into the first years of the empire, a new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature, which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools

13. Vulgar Latin • Vulgar Latin – (sermo vulgi, "the speech of the masses"), existed concurrently with literate Classical Latin. • This informal language - rarely written; philologists left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors and those found as graffiti. • As it was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. • On the contrary, romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation of Romance languages

14. Vulgar Latin • Despite dialectal variation, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy retained a remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their common Christian (Roman Catholic) culture. • the Moorish conquest of Spain in 711 cut off communications between the major Romance regions - the languages began to diverge. • The Vulgar Latin dialect that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from the other varieties, as it was largely cut off from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire.

15. Romance languages • Vulgar Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. • They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing

16. Medieval Latin • The written Latin in use during that portion of the postclassical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed. • The spoken language had developed into the various incipient Romance languages; however, in the educated and official world Latin continued without its natural spoken base. • This Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. • It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies.

17. Medieval Latin • Without the institutions of the Roman empire that had supported its uniformity, medieval Latin lost its linguistic cohesion • Meanings of many words have been changed and new words have been introduced from the vernacular. • Identifiable individual styles of incorrect classical Latin prevail

18. Renaissance Latin • The Renaissance briefly reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken language by its adoption by the Renaissance Humanists. • Often led by members of the clergy, they were shocked by the accelerated dismantling of the vestiges of the classical world and the rapid loss of its literature. • They strove to preserve what they could and restore Latin to what it had been and introduced the practice of producing revised editions of the literary works that remained by comparing surviving manuscripts.

19. Renaissance Latin • By the 15th century Medieval Latin was replaced by versions supported by the scholars of the rising universities, who attempted to discover what the classical language had been

20. New Latin • During the Early Modern Age, Latin still was the most important language of culture in Europe. • Until the end of the 17th century most books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin. • Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French and later just native or other languages

21. Contemporary Latin • The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church • Some states, universities – Latin mottoes • Inscriptions on courtrooms, seals • Latin – taught at many high schools • Latin legal terms and maxims in European legal languages

22. Official status of Latin • Holy See - used in the diocese, with Italian being the official language of Vatican City • Latin was the sole official language of the Kingdom of Hungary from the 11th century to the mid 19th century, when it was replaced by Hungarian in 1844.

23. Official status of Latin • Latin was the official language of Croatian Parliament from the 13th to the 19th century (1847). The oldest preserved records of the parliamentary sessions (Congregatio Regni totius Sclavonie generalis) – held in Zagreb (Zagabria), Croatia – date from 19 April 1273. An extensive Croatian Latin literature exists • Poland - officially recognised and widely usedbetween the 10th and 18th centuries, commonly used in foreign relations and popular as a second language among some of the nobility

24. Beginnings of Roman law • The jurist Sextus Pomponius said, "At the beginning of our city, the people began their first activities without any fixed law, and without any fixed rights: all things were ruled despotically, by kings". It is believed that Roman Law is rooted in the Etruscan religion, emphasizing ritual.

25. Early Roman law • Early law: linked to religion; undeveloped, with attributes of strict formalism, symbolism, and conservatism, e.g. the ritual practice of mancipatio (a form of sale).

26. Mancipatio • a solemn verbal contract by which the ownership of certain types of goods, called res mancipi, was transferred. • effected in the presence of at least 5 witnesses, who must be Roman citizens, and another person who holds a pair of brazen scales. The purchaser, taking hold of the thing, says: e.g. I affirm that this slave is mine according to quiritary right, and he is purchased by me with this piece of bronze and scales). He then strikes the scales with the piece of bronze, and gives it to the seller as a symbol of the price

27. Lex Duodecim Tabularum(450 BC)

28. Lex Duodecim Tabularum(Law of the Twelve Tables) • The plebeian tribune, C. Terentilius Arsa, proposed that the law should be written, in order to prevent magistrates from applying the law arbitrarily • In 451 BC a board of ten men (Decemvirate) was appointed to draw up a code • Formally promulgated in 449 BC • Drawn up on 12 tablets posted in the Forum Romanum

29. Classical Roman law • The first 250 years AD are the period during which Roman law and Roman legal science reached its greatest degree of sophistication. The law of this period is often referred to as the classical period of Roman law. • The literary and practical achievements of the jurists of this period gave Roman law its unique shape

30. Languages of the Roman Empire • Latin – lingua franca between diverse populations of the Empire • Byzantine Empire – Greek • The boundary between the zones of dominance of these languages ran from north to south along the centre of the Empire: it crossed the Balkans and ran along the eastern side of the territories of today’s Tunisia

31. Invasions of the Roman Empire

32. Fall of the Western Roman Empire

33. Germanic laws (5th-9th c.)Leges barbarorum Customary law: local, fragmented; oral, based on careful memorization When justice is oral, the judicial act is personal and subjective Power, whose origins were at once magical, divine and military, was exercised jointly by the king and his warriors

34. CANON LAW • Law of the church courts, • Based on Roman law

35. The Byzantine Empire • In Western Europe, Roman law as a coherent legal system disappeared with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 • Maintained at a very high level in the Byzantine Empire

36. Corpus Iuris Civilis (Codex Justinianus, 529-35 AD) • Most comprehensive code of Roman law, compiled under Justinian I, by a commission of jurists

37. Latin in European culture • Thanks to the Catholic church, Latin retained its position in medieval Europe as the dominant written language • Latin – the language of law, religion, science, literature

38. Re-Emergence of Roman Law in the West • C. 1050 Roman law, namely the Justinian’s Code, was re-discovered in Europe • Scholars known as glossators, and later as commentators, interpreted Justinian’s Code and generated an influential body of law and legal literature that came to be known as the jus commune or common law of Europe

39. THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA • The oldest university in the world (1088)

40. THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA • Students who studied Roman law in Bologna found that many rules of Roman law were better suited to regulate complex economic transactions than customary rules; • Roman law was re-introduced into legal practice

41. Ius comune • The rediscovered Roman law dominated legal practice in most European countries. • A legal system, in which Roman law was mixed with elements of canon law and of Germanic custom

42. Ius comune • Ius comune – common to countries of continental Europe • Lawyers from continental Europe (and some other countries) speak the same conceptual language • Latin – the language of European lawyes

43. NATIONAL CODIFICATIONS • The practical application of ius comune came to an end when national codifications were made • In 1804, the French civil code came into force • In the 19th century, many European states adopted the French model or drafted their own codes

44. Rise of national languages • Strenghtening of nation states - the rise of the national languages as symbols of national identity and a tool of power politics

45. Latin in European Culture • Use of Latin as a language of science began to diminish even in 17th, above all in the 18th c. • France sought to replace Latin with her own national language • End of 18th c. most national languages ousted Latin • Smaller nations, whose languages were not instruments of power in the international arena, kept to the use of Latin

46. Latin in modern legal languages: “Latin is dead – Long Live Latin!” • Although Latin is no longer the language of legal science or of legal practice – leaving aside canon law – it has left important traces in modern legal languages • The style of modern legal languages still reflects the rhythm of legal Latin • A large proportion of the vocabulary of modern legal languages comes from legal Latin

47. Latin in modern legal languages • Latin quotations: terms, expressions, maxims • By using Latin expressions and maxims, a lawyer sets out to show his professional competence

48. Display function of Latin • A high status value in the Western world • Latin maxims: on the walls of courthouses • Seals of judicial authorities – often adorned with such expressions; • Emblems of public organ, law societies or bar associations

49. The common heritage of legal Latin • Common heritage - facilitates communication between lawyers from various countries

50. The Communication Value of Legal Latin • The same expressions and maxims – not used in all countries, and their meaning is not necessarily the same • Today’s lawyers – lack an adequate knowledge of Latin