Law’s Evolution: Interdisciplinary Study and Historical Roots
How Important is the Interdisciplinary Study of Law?
It is important to establish a relationship between law and other social sciences, to analyze and interpret, in order to understand society in a deep and global way.
How Can History Contribute to Legal Analysis?
History highlights the relationship between law and past policies. It emphasizes the process of emergence and change in historical time, showing that the legal standard is one aspect of the law.
What are Historical Source Documents, Real and Formal Law?
- Documentary: Historical documents
- Real: God, Metaphysics, economic welfare, social factors, etc.
- Formal: Laws, customs, doctrine, jurisprudence
Why is Law Conceived as a Social Fact?
Law is designed as a social collective behavior, standardized by rules of social life. Its main features are:
- It is external and objective
- It represents the collective conscience
- Its failure generates coercive sanctions
- It is generally applied to all
What Functions are Performed by Law?
- Preventive: Education and socialization of society to avoid wrongdoing or conflict.
- Repressive: The state seeks to suppress conflict through its authorities, regulating them through a decision of the competent authority.
What Factors Contribute to the Production and Modification of Law?
- Economic: Modes, media, production systems, and relationships. Example: Rome.
- Political: Systems, political regimes, and power relations.
- Cultural and Religious: Religion, morality, and law.
What are the Main Features of Society and Law of Peoples Without Writing?
They are agricultural, polytheistic. Their source of law is custom. They only recognize the ownership of movable property. Their law is oral (passed down from generation to generation by the patriarchal head). They recognize the institution of marriage.