THE MAJOR EUROPEAN LEGAL LANGUAGES

1. THE MAJOR EUROPEAN LEGAL LANGUAGES A Comparativeoverview

2. Major legal languages • Legal Latin • Legal French • Legal English • Legal German

3. Legal Latin

4. Preview • The importance of Roman law • Latin in European culture • Latin – universal language of lawyers • Latin in Canon Law • Latin in modern legal languages • Communication value of legal Latin

5. Roman kingdom (753 BC-509 BC)

6. Expansion of the Roman Republic (509 BC-27 BC)

7. Expansion of the Roman Empire (Western: 285-476 AD; Eastern: 300-1453)

8. Lex Duodecim Tabularum(450 BC)

9. Lex Duodecim Tabularum(Law of the Twelve Tables) • In the earliest period –laws kept secret by pontifices • In 451 BC a board of ten men (Decemvirate) was appointed to draw up a code • Formally promulgated in 449 BC • Drawn up on 12 tablets posted in the Forum Romanum

10. Languages of the Roman Empire • Latin – lingua franca between diverse populations of the Empire • Byzantine Empire – Greek • The boundary between the zones of dominance of these languages ran from north to south along the centre of the Empire: it crossed the Balkans and ran along the eastern side of the territories of today’s Tunisia

11. Invasions of the Roman Empire

12. Fall of the Western Roman Empire

13. CANON LAW • Law of the church courts, • Based on Roman law

14. Germanic laws (5th-9th c.)Leges barbarorum Customary law: local, fragmented Customary law: oral, based on careful memorization When justice is oral, the judicial act is personal and subjective Power, whose origins were at once magical, divine and military, was exercised jointly by the king and his warriors

15. History • In Western Europe, Roman law as a coherent legal system disappeared with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 • Maintained at a very high level in the Byzantine Empire

16. Corpus Iuris Civilis (Codex Justinianus, 529-35 AD) • Most comprehensive code of Roman law, compiled under Justinian I, by a commission of jurists

17. The position of Latin • Thanks to the Catholic church, Latin retained its position in medieval Europe as the dominant written language • Carolingian Renaissance (reform of the school system by Charlemagne at the end of 8th c.) raised the level of written Latin

18. Latin in the Middle Ages • In the Middle Ages – literary works written in Latin; it is estimated that the number of medieval works in Latin was 50 times greater than that of works in Latin during Antiquity

19. Re-Emergence of Roman Law in the West • C. 1050 jurists rediscovered Roman law, namely the compilations of Justinian, especially his Digest • Scholars known as glossators, and later as commentators, interpreted the compilations and generated an influential body of literature that came to be known as the jus commune or common law of Europe

20. THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA • The oldest university in the world (1088)

21. THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA • Students who studied Roman law in Bologna found that many rules of Roman law were better suited to regulate complex economic transactions than customary rules; • Roman law was re-introduced into legal practice

22. Ius comune • The rediscovered Roman law dominated legal practice in most European countries. • A legal system, in which Roman law was mixed with elements of canon law and of Germanic custom

23. Ius comune • Ius comune – common to countries of continental Europe • Lawyers from continental Europe (and some other countries) speak the same conceptual language

24. NATIONAL CODIFICATIONS • The practical application of Roman law came to an end when national codifications were made • In 1804, the French civil code came into force • In the 19th century, many European states adopted the French model or drafted their own codes

25. Rise of national languages • Strenghtening of nation states- the rise of the national languages as symbols of national identity and a tool of power politics

26. Latin in modern legal languages: “Latin is dead – Long Live Latin!” • Although Latin is no longer the language of legal science or of legal practice – leaving aside canon law – it has left important traces in modern legal languages • The style of modern legal languages still reflects the rhythm of old legal Latin • A large proportion of the vocabulary of modern legal languages comes from legal Latin

27. Latin in modern legal languages • Modern texts – direct Latin quotations: terms, expressions, maxims • By using Latin expressions and maxims, a lawyer sets out to show his professional competence • Latin expressions and maxims - “beloved folklore” of lawyers

28. The Danger of Mistakes and Misunderstandings • Common heritage - facilitates communication between lawyers from various countries • Often: variants of Latin origin look alike, or expressions translated directly from Latin mean different things in different linguistic zones

29. Mitigating problems • In the future as today, only some lawyers have a good command of Latin • International legal Latin dictionary should be compiled, bringing together the expressions actually in use in different legal cultures, indicating their meaning in each of these cultures

30. Legal German

31. Preview • The Holy Roman Empire • Legal languages • Customary law • Reception of Roman law and its linguistic consequences • The role of universities • The impact of Reformation on language standardization (High German) • French influence • Eindeutschung (purism) • Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) (1900)

32. Holy Roman Empire/Sacrum Romanum Imperium/ Heiliges Römisches Reich (800-1806)

33. Holy Roman Empire

34. Seats of the Holy Roman Empire • From 794 – Aachen • 1328–1347 and 1742–1745 – Munich • 1355–1437 and 1576–1611 – Prague • 1437–1576 and 1611–1806 – Vienna

35. Official languages • Official languages for the Holy Roman Empire for the whole of its existence: German and Latin

36. Holy Roman Empire • In 800 the Pope crowned Charlemagne Roman Emperor • Over time, the Empire grew increasingly powerless in relation to the regional power centres • Power of the emperor diminished, that of regional princes flourished • Formally, the Empire lasted until 1806

37. LinguisticConsequencesoftheReceptionof Roman law • The Holy Roman Empire - no uniform legal system • Customary law – oral • The first written laws – drawn up in Latin • Latin of medieval Germanic written laws - a mixture of Germanic and Roman styles • In court hearings judges used dialects of Old German

38. Old Legal German • Old legal German, based on dialects – not uniform • Level of abstraction – low: large number of words to describe concrete cases • Use of synonyms or quasi-synonyms

39. Reception of Roman law • European universities taught Roman law which provided the basis for ius commune created by medieval lawyers • Canon law, created on the basis of Roman law • Roman law was used to stress the status of the Empire as a continuation of the original Roman Empire

40. Reception of Roman law • Judges of higher German courts – lawyers with a university education • In 1495 Imperial Court set up (Reichskammergericht) which applied Roman law • Beneath the Imperial Court stood the lower courts - also applied Roman law

41. Reception of Roman law • As the application of Roman law spread in the German justice system, lay judges began asking legal scholars for opinions • Case files - sent to universities • German law faculties provided a kind of higher court service esp. in 16th and 17th centuries

42. Status of Latin and German • Medieval period: emperor heard proposals from his council in Latin, responding in the same language • After the Reformation, the protestant States used new German written standard (Hochdeutsch) since Low German was no longer accepted in the Diet

43. Linguisticconsequencesofreceptionof Roman law • Latin loanwords • Legal German – more abstract and precise • From the end of 15th c. German legal terminology was systematised and partly Latinised • During the reception period, Latin gave some 80% loanwords in German

44. Influence of Legal French • 17th c. – France became a dominant power, spreading its language and culture to other countries, including the Holy Roman Empire • Spanish and Italian – also used in some situations

45. Germanisation of Legal Language • End of 18th c.: German – the main language of German legal culture; • Latin – subsidiary means of clarifying new or difficult terms • Binary formulas - facilitated understanding of terminology: purely German words clarifying the meaning of foreign words: publice und öffentlich, bona fide und unter gutem Glauben

46. Germanisation of Legal Language • More radical demands: Legal German had to be entirely cleansed of foreign words: methodical Germanisation (Eindeutschung) of the German language • No need for loanwords, since any subject could be dealt with by using purely German words

47. Linguistic importance of the major codifications • Enlightenment: the world had to be conceptualised as a rational system, functioning with virtually mathematical accuracy • In law: the major systematic codifications were an expression of this notion

48. Legal language of a unified Germany • In 19th c. Germany was unified and rose to the position of a great power • National language – important reflection of nationalism • Cleansing the German language of foreign influences intensified with strengthened nationalism; many neologisms

49. Legal language of a unified Germany • 19th c. number of words of foreign origin fell from 4-5 to 0.5% (e.g. Alimentation . Unterhalt, Desertion – Verlassung, Citation – Ladung ‘ summons’, Kopie – Abschrift)

50. Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB, 1900 • almost completely Germanised terminology of German private law • The most celebrated piece of German legislation • Excellent internal logic of the codes (on the model of natural sciences) but its content is not easily understood from the reader’s standpoint • A monument of refined legal scholarship; written for judges versed in law, not for laymen