European Legal History

general courses

Classroom

The course is dedicated to the European legal history with particular focus on the criminal and public law (administrative and constitutional). The basic perspective of the course is legal one but with interdisciplinary approach including social, economic and political contexts.

The course is focused on the history of criminal law (substantive and procedural) and public law (administrative and constitutional) in Europe from ancient epoch to the 20th Century. The elementary approach of the course is interdisciplinary perspective including (beside legal one) social, economic and political contexts. Particiular emphasis is placed on the critical analysis of legal institutions which are commonly and stereotypically explained in a superficial way. That could be applied to the ostracism in athenian democracy (used max. several times) that was very reasonable tool for athenians commoners to control local aristocracy or doubts toward feudalism in medieval Europe that was less popular and not as universal as historians recently thought. Another important matter of the course are effects of the industrial revolution and creation of modern society and nations in Europe and its links to the ways how the Law in Europe is created and developed. The last part is legal system regarding totalitarian State in Europe.

Subcjects:

1. General overview of the course.

2. Ancient Greek Law: ostracism as a moderate tool to balance political life in Athens.

3. Athenian judicial system: non professional judges (jurors) as a guarantee of just verdicts.

4. Germanic and Slavic laws as an alternative for Roman legal tradition.

5. Has Feudalism commonly appeared in medieval Europe?

6. Criminal Law before a State monopoly.

7. Bureaucracy of State in the early modern period on case of absolute monarchy in France.

8. Criminal Law during the Age of Enlightenment: humanitarians and criminal justice.

9. Modern Criminal Law in Europe from XIXth Century.

10. Public law before 'Public Law': Emergence and Development of Administrative Law.

11. Law and Economy: industrial revolution, society and Law.

12. European Twentieth-Century Dictatorship and the Law

13. Communism and the Law.

14. The Law of Welfare State.

15. Final test.

1. Lessafer R., European Legal History: A Cultural and Political Perspective, Cambridge 2009.

2. Olivia F. Robinson, T. David Fergus, William M. Gordon, European legal history. Sources and institutions, 3 ed., London 2000.

3. The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History, ed. by H. Pihlajamäki, M.D. Dubber, M. Godfrey, Oxford 2018.

4. Modzelewski K., Barbarian Europe, Warsaw 2004 (translations: fr, it, de).

5. Reynolds S., Fiefs and Vassals. The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted, Oxford 1994.

6. Forsdyke S., Exile, ostracism, and democracy : the politics of expulsion in ancient Greece, Princeton 2005.

7. Foucault M., Discipline and punish: the birth of the prison, New York 1995.

8. Beccaria C., On Crimes and Punishments, Cambridge 2012.

After the course students will be able to:

- describe evolution of criminal and administrative law in Europe from antiquity to the 20th Century;

- explain general notions regarding criminal and administrative law as well as their origins;

- determine legal institutions and solutions originated from barbaric legal systems in Europe;

- identify legal aspects of European totalitarisms of 20th Century.

The course is proceeded under form of lectures with questions toward students and general discussion. Presenting a paper by student is possible.

not applicable