'Messages From Antiquity' : Roman Law and Current Legal Debates

Roman law has shaped the Civil law tradition but its influence undoubtedly also extends to Common law countries. Legal institutions as well as legal reasoning reassembled in the Corpus iuris civilis have been studied for nearly one thousand years in Western Europe and have been a constant point of reference. Japanese law adopted this tradition since the Meiji-era. Roman law does not only offer a historical insight into the foundations of modern legal thinking, but can also be a useful tool for deeper understanding and analysis of current legal problems. The international seminar held at the University of Kyushu in February 2016 intended to show the validity of Roman law for contemporary legal practitioners facing current challenges by looking at selected issues. Das römische Recht hat die Tradition des Civil law geprägt, aber ohne Zweifel auch das Common law beeinflusst. Die Rechtsinstitute und die rechtliche Argumentation, welche im Corpus iuris civilis gesammelt sind, stehen in Westeuropa seit über tausend Jahren im Zentrum juristischer Studien und bilden auch im Japanischen Recht seit der Meiji-Ära einen wichtigen Bezugspunkt. Allerdings erlaubt das römische Recht nicht nur einen Zugang zu den historischen Grundlagen des modernen Rechtsdenkens; vielmehr kann es auch als Instrument zum tieferen Verständnis und zur Analyse aktueller Rechtsprobleme dienen. Die internationale Tagung an der Universität Kyushu im Februar 2016 verfolgte den Zweck, anhand ausgewählter Rechtsfragen den zeitlosen Wert des römischen Rechts auch für die Herausforderungen der heutigen Jurisprudenz aufzuzeigen. Roman law has shaped the Civil law tradition but the spheare of its influence undoubtedly extends also to Common law countries. Legal institutions as well as legal reasonings reassembled in the Corpus iuris civilis have been studied for nearly one thousand years in Western Europe and have been a constant point of reference. Japanese law recepted this tradition since the Meiji-era. On the other hand, the Roman law does not only offer a historical insight into the foundations of Modern legal thinkings, but it can also be a useful tool for deeper understanding and analysis of current legal problems The articles in the book indicate the resultat of an international seminar held at the University of Kyushu aimed to show the timeless validity of Roman law to contemporary jurists facing challenges today by dealing with selected issues