Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/892

* CIVIL LAW. 786 CIVIL LIST. in many parts of Europe, by the 'reception' of these books as authoritative law; where, as in Italy ami southern France, Roman law of a sort was already in use, the substitution of fuller and better texts was a simple matter, and here the receptiim came early. In Germany and the Netherlands it came late; it was not completed until the beginning of the sixteenth century. The reception was facilitated, csj)ecially in Germany and Italy, by the theory of 'continuous empire,' which viewed the Koman emperors as legal prede- cessors of the media-val kings and princes. The reception, further, was in part the result, and in part the cause, of a gradual change in the organi- zation of the courts, judges learned in the civil and canon laws taking llie place of the scabini, or lay judges. The fundamental cause, however, of the reception of ancient Roman law was the inadequacy of mediieval law. The revival of commerce, in the twelfth and following cen- turies, and the social changes which ensued, necessitated a more highly developed law. The first result of the revival of commerce was the reception, throughout Europe, of the ancient law merchant, which had survived in the eastern ^lediterranean region ; but this law was ap- plicable onl}- to traders, and it,s reception did not solve the problems that were raised by the in- creasing importance of personal property. Hence the subsequent reception of the entire Roman private law. In those parts of Europe where economic conditions changed more slowly and local customs longer remained adequate — e.g. in Switzerland, in the Scandinavian kingdoms, and in Russia — the law books of Justinian were not received. These countries became civil-law coun- tries later, partly through the influence of the universities, partly by borrowing or imitating French and German legislation. A second and negative cause of the reception was the inability of the mediEeval State to work out the new law that was required. In those countries in which central legislative power existed, or in which a|)poals were running to a supreme court, the law books of Justinian were not received. They were not received in England, nor in northern France, nor in Aragon; and in Castile the Roman law, as taught in the universities, was received only indirectly, in the form of an inde- pendent Spanish code — viz. the law of the 'Seven Parts' (Las Siete Partidas) . prepared under the auspices of Alfonso X. (1252-84). Even in those countries in which the Imperial Roman law was not received in gross, there was, never- theless, more or less reception in detail; that is, special institutions and rules were bor- rowed. Where the law books of .Justinian were received, they were applied: (1) as modified by the canon law; (2) as interpreted by the Italian commentators; (.3) as subsidiary law. not overriding, but only supplementing, local laws. The judges trained in the Roman law were, how- ever, not friendly to local laws. They insisted that such laws unist be proved to be in force; and where the local law was unwritten, it was not easy to convince them of its validity. VIII. Modern Codi/ication. — In Spain and in France, the earlier modern codes were collections of provincial and local laws — viz. the laws (fueros) of the difTerent Spanish provinces and cities and the revisions of the same, dating from the thirteenth century' to the nineteenth: and the customs (coutumes) of the French provinces. published under royal authority in the fifteenth and following centuries. In Germany and in Italy the earlier modern codes were State codes — e.g. those of Bavaria (H.^O), Pru.ssia (1794), Baden (a translation of the Code Xapoleon, ISO'J), and Saxonv ( 1803) ; and those of the Two Sicilies (1819), Parma (1820), Piedmont-Sar- dinia ( 18.'?"), and llodena (1851). The principal civil codes now in force in Eu- rope are national cotles. The oldest of these is the French Civil Code, commonly known as the Code Xapoleon, pronmlgated in 1804. It is still in force in Belgium, and it has served as a model for nuich subsequent codilioation. especially in Latin countries. The Austrian Civil Code dates from 1811. The Italian Civil Code was ])ublished in 1865; the Spanish Civil Code in 1888-89; both of these are based upon the French Code. The German Civil Code was published in 1890, and has been in force since 1900. All of these codes, except the Spanish, have supplanted the older provincial and State codes; indeed, the chief ob- ject with which they were framed was to create common national law. Xearly all of the smaller European Slates have civil codes. In Switzerland, where cantonal codes are still in force, there i* already a federal code of obligations, and a general civil code is in preparation. In America, French law has been codified in Lower Canada (now the Province of Quebec; Code of 1805) and in Louisiana (Code of 1808, amended 1824, and since from time to time re- vised). In nearly all the Spanish-American States, the civil law has been codified, with the Code Xapoleon as the chief model. The more important of these codes are those of Bolivia (183f), Peru (1851), Chile (1855), Uruguay (1868), Argentina (1809). Mexico (1870. re- vised 1884), Colombia (1873, revised 1887). Identical with the Chilean Code, or based upon ii, are the codes of Xicaragua (1867), Guatemala (1882). Salvador. Honduras. Venezuela (1S80), Costa Rica (1884). Ecuador (1890). The Ar- gentine Code was adopted by Paraguay in 1889. The Spanish Civil Code of 1889 is in force in Cul>a, Porto Rico, and the Philippines. To this list of civif-law codes should be added the new Civil Code of Japan (1898). since its provisions, except as regards the faniil_v, are largelj' drawn from modern European codes. A general history of European law is yet to be written, although there are good histories of the law of Germany, Italy, France, Spain, etc. Consult Savigny, <!e- schichte dcs riimiSThcn [{rchtx iiii Mittihilirr (2il ed. Heidelberg, 1834-51), which is still the most important general work. There are special works on the reception of Roman law by Schiiiidt ( GiJt- tingen, 1868) and Modderman (Grouingen, 1874). CIVIL LIST. An annual allowance granted to the sovereign and the members of the royal family in constitutional monarchies, where the Parliament has obtained control of the purse. In England down to 1000, the entire expenses of government, civil and military, were defrayed out of what was ealled the 'Royal Revenue.' Tliis revenue, which arose partly from Crown lands and partly from other sources, remained for a long jieriod after the Conquest at the disposal of the Crown; and even after supplies were voted by Parliament, the specific mode of their ex- penditure continued to be free from Piirliamen- tarv control. After the accession of William III.,