The Nature of Legal Codification: A Historical and Cultural Perspective
Open Access
- Author:
- Torres, Olivia
- Area of Honors:
- Interdisciplinary in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, English, and History
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Gonzalo Rubio, Thesis Supervisor
Erin Mc Kenna Hanses, Thesis Honors Advisor
Carla J. Mulford, Thesis Honors Advisor
Cathleen Denise Cahill, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Legal Codification
Law Codes
Legal Commentaries
Ancient Near East
Ancient Mesopotamia
Law
Classics
CAMS
ANE
Legal Commentary - Abstract:
- This thesis will explore two different types of Ancient Mesopotamian legal sources. Law codes, lexical texts, scribal workbooks, and scholarly trial records are examples of non-substantive legal sources. They possessed no authoritative weight and were not cited as the grounds for legal judgments. Applied trial records and transactional records, such as contracts and letters, contained substantive legal proceedings. Neither type of source constituted or referenced a codified legal structure; they were propagandistic, scribal, or documentary in nature. Similarities between this system, Anglo-American Common Law and the Napoleonic Codes are coincidental, will also be addressed. Common Law is predicated on tradition, with loosely-codified framing documents. The Napoleonic system consists of strict codification. Any similarities and differences are coincidental, yet lend themselves to the examination of how laws can be codified. The Romans are often credited with the creation of Law as a scholarly endeavor. It is believed that they were the first to purposefully reflect on the law in an abstract way vis-à-vis commentaries. This thesis argues that that assertion is incorrect. Ancient Mesopotamian law in its written form functioned as a commentary, critique, and contemplation of legal practices and the administration of justice. This was made possible by the rich oral tradition that was prevalent during that time - law in Ancient Mesopotamia was codified orally, with precedent and jurisprudence laying the foundation for legal rulings. The written sources functioned as ancillary to the spoken customs.