World History: Digital Scrapbook: Rome

Current event: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/04/28/402628280/record-number-of-amicus-briefs-filed-in-same-sex-marriage-cases
Past event: http://www.greekgateway.com/news/ancient-greek-to-modern-architecture-with-greek-influence

Latin Influence on Legal Systems of Today

These NPR article discusses amicus briefs, a Latin name. Amicus briefs, are filed by groups, individuals, and governments who have an interest in the outcome of case before a court. In almost all Western countries the legal system makes extensive use of terms like amicus brief. For example a priori, ad hoc, ad finitum, affidaditi, alter ego, caveati, contra, bona fide, and habeas corpus. These terms and hundreds of other Latin terms have been in more or less continuous use for over 2,000 years and what they mean is long since been settled. Lawyers everywhere understand exactly what a term like amicus brief means. International law, in particular makes a heavy use of Latin terms in order to minimize the misunderstandings when lawyers who speak different languages are talking to each other. Various efforts over the years have been made to reduce the number of Latin terms lawyers use but these efforts almost invariably fail because the new English expressions lack the exact definitions which have been achieved over the years for the Latin terms. To laymen most of this terms are unintelligible and as a result actors in TV series who are playing lawyers use many Latin words to indicate seriousness.

The legal system of the Roman Empire was based on laws written in Latin which spelled out property rights and how to settle civil disputes among private citizens. It also provided a way to deal with criminals. Earlier legal systems also tried to deal with these things but for the most part judges could rule in often arbitrary and unpredictable ways making it difficult to predict what was going to happen. The first Roman effort at creating a set of legal principles was called the "Twelve Tables" and dealt with civil matters but not criminal. The Twelve Tables were created around 450 BC and codified existing traditions and practices to make what would happen more predictable. Over the next thousand plus years the Romans refined and extended the application of laws written in Latin to say what would happen in all kinds of situations. But many of these laws were vague or contradictory and there was also a lot of "common law" being applied in different situations. Around 530 AD Emperor Justinian of the Eastern Roman Empire tried to bring order to this mess by issuing the Justinianic Code as part of his efforts to unify what remained of the Roman Empire in the east. Actual copies of the Jiustinanic code were lost for many centuries but many of the legal principals and terms have survived to this day in almost all Western societies. For example an important principal in the most countries today is "innocent until proven guilty" for criminals. In the Justinianic code this was Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat. In English this translates as “the burden of proof is on he who declares, not on he who denies".

Up until about 250 AD the laws written in Rome became more and more detailed in an attempt to settle legal matters in a predictable and just way. However after about 250 AD emperors started to exercise more and more power based on political considerations rather than applying the law as written down in Latin. Outcomes became more uncertain depending on how whoever was emperor decided to exercise his power. Similarly for the last 100 or so years in the United States laws and government regulations have become increasingly detailed in an attempt to solve all kinds of problems in a fair manner. And like the what happened in the latter phases of the Roman Empire executives in charge of implementing these laws sometimes choose to ignore the law as written and do what they think is best for the people. The result may have a better result but it has become more difficult to determine what is going to happen ahead of time.