Law of New Netherland: Difference between revisions
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The '''law of [[New Netherland]]''' is primarily based on statutory law and legal codes, though it is influenced by caselaw to varying degrees. The most important codified document is the 1903 Constitution and its amendments, which outline the constitutional and administrative law of the republic. The civil code ''[[Codex novus belgicus civilis]]'', the ''[[Köpmanswetbück]]'' of 1762, and the Penal Laws of 1915 are the main codifications of private, commercial, and criminal law, respectively. These four documents are collectively known as the ''Vîr Regtsbücks'' ('Four Codes') and are recognized as the foundational documents of New Netherlandic jurisprudence.
Generally, the law of New Netherland is essentially built upon the civil law system of [[Roman-Dutch law]], though it has
The sole legislative body in the New Netherland is the [[States-General of New Netherland|States-General]], based in [[New Amsterdam]]. Provinces elect legislators to the First Chamber, and thus no significant decision-making power is devolved to provincial administrations.
== History ==
In 1625, Director-General William Verhulst and his council were given explicit instructions by the Dutch West India Company (WIC) to fulfill New Netherland's executive, legislative, and judicial functions. These instructions also included updated law on matters such as the slaughter of animals, though generally the colony followed the [[Roman-Dutch law]] of the County of Holland. From 1644 to 1653, numerous subsidiary courts of law were established across the colony, initially triggered by a wave of immigrants from Connecticut and Europe.
Starting in the 1640s, patroonships such as Rensselaerswÿck attempted to attain legal independence from the central government at Manhattan, resulting in the eventual establishment of a handful of Patroon's Courts which functioned as the court of first and last recourse within a limited jurisdiction. At times, these Patroon's Courts were either suppressed and supported by Manhattan depending on the administration. The last Patroon's Court would be abolished 250 years later in the 1890s.
Not until the arrival of Peter Stuyvesant in 1647 did the colony's government began to show competency. The same year, the newly established advisory citizens' assembly, the Board of Nine Men, used their magisterial authority in the new three-judge Court of Arbitrators. The Board, dissatisfied with Stuyvesant's rule, petitioned the States-General for the reformation of the colony's administrative and legal structure to mirror that of Holland.
Subsequently in 1653, New Amsterdam gained a Court of Magistrates, an inferior court of law. The original court at New Amsterdam consisted of two burgomasters (mayors), a schout (sheriff), and five ''schepen''s (aldermen), a model which was replicated in soon-established magistrate courts in Beverwÿck, Rensselaerwÿck, Rutsdorp, and other settlements. The 1656 Municipal Charter ushered in by Director-General [[Adriaen van der Donck]] consolidated New Netherland's incorporation and allowed for the development of representative democracy. In 1658, the citizens of New Netherland decisively rejected the institution of the Burgher's Right, a title conferred on Amsterdam's citizens that granted them special legal, political, and commercial privileges.
The conclusion of the [[History of Europe#Second Anglo-Dutch War|Second Anglo-Dutch War]] in 1667 brought New Netherland the English territories of Maryland and New Haven and with them large Catholic and Puritan populations accustomed to British common law. It is through their influence that juries and caselaw became features of the law of New Netherland — juries were already in common use in Rutsdorp and Breuckelen by the end of the century.
== Sources of law ==
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# Statutory law
# Legal treatises
# Judicial opinions
# Customary law
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New Netherlandic private law is based on two legal codes; the ''Köpmanswetbück'' for commercial law, and the ''Codex novus belgicus civilis'' for all other forms of private-civil law. The ''Codex'' is divided into five books:
* Book
* Book
* Book
* Book
* Book
==== Civil wrongs ====
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