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The World of Law


Today I stumbled upon this nifty little map (slightly modified) on Wikipedia showing the different legal systems of the world. (Click on the map above for the full version). Civil law is predominant, but of course Common Law is the best, and happens to predominate throughout the English-speaking world. Four economists have also claimed that economic prosperity and the common law system are linked. As one can see from the map, Scotland does not share the same legal system as the rest of the United Kingdom but instead has its own unique system of law, the maintenance of which was stipulated in the 1707 Treaty of Union uniting Scotland and England.

The Wikipedia article on Common law has a paragraph on New York law, which interestingly states:

The state of New York, which also has a civil law history from its Dutch colonial days, also began a codification of its laws in the 19th century. The only part of this codification process that was considered complete is known as the Field Code applying to civil procedure. The original colony of New Netherlands was settled by the Dutch and the law was also Dutch. When the British captured pre-existing colonies they continued to allow the local settlers to keep their civil law. However, the Dutch settlers revolted against the English and the colony was recaptured by the Dutch. When the English finally regained control of New Netherlands — as a punishment unique in the history of the British Empire — they forced the English common law upon all the colonists, including the Dutch. This was problematic as the patroon system of land holding, based on the feudal system and civil law, continued to operate in the colony until it was abolished in the mid-nineteenth century. The influence of Roman Dutch law continued in the colony well into the late nineteenth century. The codification of a law of general obligations shows how remnants of the civil law tradition in New York continued on from the Dutch days.

To be specific, the patroon system ended along with the later manorial courts originating from the British period when New York abolished these psuedo-feudal law features in 1849. Scarsdale, the neighboring municipality to the north of here, is supposedly the last manor granted in the British Empire and recently celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the 1703 grant. There were a number of other manors granted in New York, such as Fordham and Pelham nearby. The City of New Rochelle consists of land purchased by the Huguenots from Thomas Pell. One of the stipulations was that New Rochelle would present Pell and his successors with a fatted calf every year on St. John’s Day (if my memory serves me correctly). I understand the practice was continued into the 20th century before sadly lapsing.

Meanwhile, some Europeans are catching on to the fact that the Supreme Court of the United States has usurped legislative powers contrary to the Constitution. The Chancellor of Austria and Prime Minister of Denmark are worried that the European Court of Justice might be tempted to do the same, and Paul Belien offers his thoughts at the Brussels Journal.

Published at 2:43 pm on Friday 13 January 2006. Categories: History.
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