NCJ Number
130163
Journal
American Journal of Comparative Law Volume: 38 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1990) Pages: 1-29
Date Published
1990
Length
29 pages
Annotation
The article looks at the historical foundations of the European legal culture and compares Anglo-American common law with the contemporary socialist legal order of Eastern and Central Europe.
Abstract
The article discusses the relationship of the Anglo-Saxon legal orders to those of mainland Europe and the relationship between Western Europe and the new socialist legal orders of Eastern Europe. The four major periods of European legal history are presented: the early Middle Ages provided the basic techniques of law and administration; the classical high Middle Ages fashioned a secular, juridical subsystem; the early phases of the Modern Age to 1789 conceptualized and systematized law; and the Modern Age from 1789 to present has seen the political and social integration of the Fourth Estate and the future of the relationship between the formal legal system, social justice, and security in today's industrial society. The article concludes with a discussion of the essential constants of European legal culture: its personalism; its legalism; and its intellectualism. 32 footnotes