AN IMPORTANT BRANCH OF EUROPEAN CIVIL LAW. Origianlly published: Grahamstown, Cape Colony: African Book Co., 1908. iv (new introduction), xv, 791 pp. With a New Introduction by Michael Hoeflich, John H. & John M. Kane Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law. Roman-Dutch law is a hybrid of medieval Dutch law, mainly Germanic in origin, and Roman law as defined by the Corpus Juris Civilis and its later reception. It was developed in Holland during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Bynkershoek, Damhouder, Grotius and other Roman-Dutch jurists had a profound influence on the development of European civil law and were the primary source of civil-law study in America. The Dutch brought it to their colonies, most notably South Africa and Indonesia, and it became the basis of their post-colonial legal systems. This engagingly written history offers a thorough analysis of Roman-Dutch jurisprudence and its intellectual background. Wessels devotes a great deal of attention to its literature, and he analyzes several treatises at length. Valuable as an introduction to one of the most important legal systems in history, it is equally useful as a reference. "On the whole, the work is deserving of high praise, both for its learning and its literary quality. It will prove a most illuminating adjunct to the standard authorities on this system of law." --JAMES MACKINTOSH, Juridical Review 20 (1908-1909) 370. JOHANNES WILHELMUS WESSELS [1862-1936] was a judge of the Transvaal Supreme Court. His works include The Status of the Uitlander (1894), Codification of Law in South Africa (1927) and The Law of Contract in South Africa (1937). MICHAEL H. HOEFLICH is the John H. & John M. Kane Professor of Law at the University of Kansas School of Law. He is the author of numerous books including Roman and Civil Law and the Development of Anglo-American Jurisprudence (1997), Legal Publishing in Antebellum America (2010), Sources of the History of the American Law of Lawyering (2007) and The Law in Postcards and Ephemera 1890-1962 (2012), the latter two published by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

Martin Chanock's illuminating and definitive perspective on that development examines all areas of the law including criminal law and criminology; the Roman-Dutch law; the State's African law; and land, labour and 'rule of law' questions.

Comprehensive and accessible, this book offers a concise synthesis of the evolution of the law in Western Europe, from ancient Rome to the beginning of the twentieth century. It situates law in the wider framework of Europe’s political, economic, social and cultural developments.

Explores the influence of Dutch law and jurisprudence in colonial America.

Roman law as a field of study is rapidly evolving to reflect new perspectives and approaches in research. Scholars who work on the subject are increasingly being asked to conduct research in an interdisciplinary manner whereby Roman law is not merely seen as a set of abstract concepts devoid of any background, but as a body of law which operated in a specific social, economic and cultural context. This context-based, 'law and society' approach to the study of Roman law is an exciting new field which legal historians must address. This interdisciplinary collection focuses on three larger themes which have emerged from these studies: Roman legal thought the interaction between legal theory and legal practice and the relationship between law and economics.

This book presents the legislation that formed the basis of Roman law - The Laws of the Twelve Tables. These laws, formally promulgated in 449 BC, consolidated earlier traditions and established enduring rights and duties of Roman citizens. The Tables were created in response to agitation by the plebeian class, who had previously been excluded from the higher benefits of the Republic. Despite previously being unwritten and exclusively interpreted by upper-class priests, the Tables became highly regarded and formed the basis of Roman law for a thousand years. This comprehensive sequence of definitions of private rights and procedures, although highly specific and diverse, provided a foundation for the enduring legal system of the Roman Empire.