Introduction to Law Flashcards class 2

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the historical development, key terminology, and comparative characteristics of Roman Law, Civil Law, Common Law, and Transnational Law systems.

Legal certainty

The principle that everybody should be able to know what the law is, emphasizing consistency and transparency.

Customary law

Guidelines that arise spontaneously in a society and are accepted as binding over time, despite not being the outcome of legislative processes./
Non written rules that arise from consistent practice and are accepted as legally binding.

Twelve Tables (451 B.C.)

The codification of Roman customary law that increased transparency and the benefit of abstraction, reducing the bias of pontiffs (quasi-judges).

Corpus juris civilis (Code of Justinian)

A 529-534 A.D. compilation consisting of the Codex (imperial legislation), Digest (writings of expert jurists), and Institutions (a textbook for students). • Codex - imperial legislation
• Digest - writings of jurists
• Institutes - student textbook

Praetor

A Roman official who heard complaints and issued a formula recommending a legal solution or remedy to the iudex if the claim was considered plausible./examined the complaint and, if valid, issued a formula indicating the legal remedy.

Iudex

A mostly layperson official in the Roman judicial system who determined facts based on evidence and granted remedies if conditions set by the praetor were met./ determined the facts based on evidence and granted the remedy if the conditions in the formula were met.

Ius commune

The combination of Roman law (rediscovered and taught in Bologna in the 11th century) and Canon law./ The combination of Roman law and Canon law forming a shared European legal framework.

Common law

A legal system originating from the 1066 Norman Conquest based on previous cases and uniform administration by central courts of justice.

civil law

Legal system based on written, codified laws organised into systematic codes.

Ratio decidendi

The decisive grounds that lead a court to its decision, forming the binding part of a legal precedent./ The binding part of a judgment containing the reasoning necessary for the decision.

Obiter dicta

Non-binding statements or "things that were also said" by a court within a judgment./Non-binding remarks made by a judge.

Stare decisis

The principle where precedents are treated as a source of law, particularly the judgments of higher-level courts./
The principle that courts must follow precedents.

statutes

Laws that are formally written and passed by parliament.

Equity

A body of principles developed by the Court of Chancery in the 14th century to correct the rigidness of common law.

“La bouche de la loi”

A phrase characterizing the role of civil law courts as the "mouth of the law," meaning they implement the will of the legislator without creating law.

Westphalian duo

The 1648 framework following the Peace of Westphalia where laws are national and centered on the State, complemented by public international law for relations between sovereigns.

Direct effect

A principle of EU law that establishes immediate rights and duties for individuals, as affirmed in cases like Van Gend & Loos.

Lex mercatoria

Transnational standards used by medieval merchants instead of local practices, revived in the modern era via conventions like the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods.

transnational law

Legal rules that operate across national borders and involve multiple legal systems.