Unit 4

THE HISTORICAL
DEVELOPMENT OF LAW

SNJEŽANA HUSINEC, PHD; E-MAIL: SHUSINEC@PRAVO.HR

Major stages in the history of law
I Answer questions 1. and 2. on p. 25
II Take a look at the following codes/types of law. Have you ever heard of them? When were they created?
Where were they in force? Try to put them in the chronological order.

The Napoleonic Code Corpus Juris Civilis

The German Civil Code customary law

The law of the Twelve Tables The Hammurabi Code

Canon law The laws of Solon

Major stages in the history of law
Read the text and find the major codifications mentioned in the text. Put them in the table. Add the
time when they were created and the area in which they were in applied.

Code Time Area

1. Hammurabi code 1760 Babylon
2. The laws of Solon 6th century BC Athens
3. The law of the Twelve Tables 450 BC Ancient Rome
4. Corpus Juris Civilis 529-534 AD The Byzantine Empire
5 the Napoleonic Code 1804
6. The German Civil Code (BGB) 1900
Vocabulary practice
Find the following legal terms in the text. What is the context in which they are used? What are their
Croatian equivalents?

1. a code = zakonik (written code, civil code)

2. customary law =
3. canon law =
4. to legislate =
5. legislation =
6. jurist =
7. civil law =
8. jurisdiction =
9. precedent =
10. codification =
Historical documents
The Bill of Rights (1689)
An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the
Succession of the Crown (1689)
- an English act of Parliament;
- one of the basic documents of English constitutional law, alongside Magna
Carta, the 1701 Act of Settlement and the Parliament Acts; forms part of the law
of some other Commonwealth nations, such as New Zealand.
- a statement of certain positive rights that its authors considered that citizens
and/or residents of a free and democratic society ought to have
Historical documents
Read the excerpt from the Bill of Rights (1689) and do ex. IV, V and VI.
Translate the expressions in bold.
Do ex. VII.
Summarize the content of the excerpt in plain English.