Roman-Dutch law
Roman-Dutch law (Dutch: Rooms-Hollands recht; Amerikaens: Röms-Hollands regt, /rʌms ˈhɔ.lɑnts ræχt/) is a legal system originating in the 16th century Netherlands. It is a variety of civil law or ius commune and may be regarded a a subgroup of it or an independent legal body derived from it. It is Today, it serves as the basis of law in most countries influenced by the Dutch empire, including New Netherland, Tussenland, the Free State, Zeylan, Tauland, and the Cape Republic, among several others.
Historical development
The term 'Roman-Dutch law' itself was coined by Simon van Leeuwen in 1652 in his work Paratitula Juris Novissimi, which was re-published in 1656. It refers to a legal framework incorporating elements of Roman law and of Germanic law. The first incarnation of such a framework can be seen in the 5th century AD with the Roman Codex Theodosianus, which had a significant impact in the Low Countries. For the next few centuries, counties including Holland, Zeeland, and Flanders, along with kingdoms such as Frisia, customary law prevailed over Roman law.
After the Burgundians and Habsburgs conquered the Low Countries, Roman-Dutch law was morphing into a recognizable form by the 15th and 16th centuries. The Great Council of Mechelen, established in 1473, was a court of law that did much to blend Germanic law with Roman law in the Netherlands. Nicholaus Everardus, one of the earliest writers on the topic of Roman-Dutch law, presided over the Council in 1528.
The Dutch Republic, established in 1579, adopted this legal system. Shortly after the Union of Utrecht in 1580, the Ordonantie van de Policien binnen Hollandt attempted to consolidate the law of the United Provinces in the confusion that followed independence. Proclaimed on 26 July 1581, the Plakkaat van Verlatinghe (lit. 'Ordinance of Abandonment') declared the independence of the Dutch provinces from imperial Spain.
The 17th century was a particularly formative period for Roman-Dutch law. Colonial companies, predominately the WIC and EIC, spread the legal tradition to Dutch colonies; most notably the Cape, Zeylan, and New Netherland. Writers like Simon van Leeuwen, Arnoldus Vinnius, and Hugo Grotius dominated the jurisprudence of the Republic. Grotius' Introduction to the Jurisprudence of Holland, published in 1631, made the law of the Netherlands more accessible to non-academics.
