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16 eLaw J. 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/elajrnl16 and id is 1 raw text is: Truth in Early Irish Law: An Examination of the Source and Nature of Truth in Early Irish Law Through Forms and Procedures of Evidence. Desai Link* Early Irish law is interpreted through translations of law texts that date back to the 7h Century CE. These texts reveal a highly developed legal system, complete with a professional body of lawyers, judges and legal concepts familiar to modern jurists. One such example is the idea of 'truth' in legal proceedings. Which evidence is valid? Whose testimony is sound? The methods of early Irish law in answering these questions pose a challenge to established preconceptions of the early Irish. Joseph Sullivan, when speaking about judicial oaths in early Irish law, stated that the 'Celtic mind has always had a distinctive leaning towards the mystical and the supernatural'. Although the act of oath making was considered sacred, a broad statement such as this suggests a preconception that Celts were pagan, animalistic and therefore comparatively devoid of science and pragmatism. This is a notion that has been well established since the Renaissance and has origins that may predate Christianity.2 The examination of the forms and standards of evidence used in early Irish law reveal a very pragmatic, rational approach to the search for truth. Truth was ultimately based on an overarching scheme of natural law,3 which incorporated supernatural elements. However the processes used to determine truth in a legal sense indicate a tendency away from the supernatural, towards forms of evidence that do not invoke supernatural forces. Often truth was measured by status4 and history,5 in addition to more familiar notions of sound testimony and judgments. The onus of asserting falsehood was on the supernatural forces. Their silence was consent.6 1. Natural Law There are a few variations of natural law, a situation which is to be expected of an idea that is evident in almost every early society.7 One example is the Greco-Roman natural law that has deities who are themselves subjects of the natural order: they are not omnipotent. The deities themselves were often personifications of natural occurrences. A god could rightly be called 'Zeus, Nature, Providence, Fate, Necessity or Law'.8 The pursuit of truth therefore needed no recourse to the supernatural, nor did it need divine validation. The pursuit of truth in early Irish law did need recourse to the supernatural, in the sense that if something wrong had happened, such as a false testimony or a corrupt *I would like to thank Professor Neil McLeod for his advice and encouragement. Any errors in this paper are solely mine. I welcome comments and feedback and can be contacted on d esai@iinet~net~au Joseph M Sullivan, 'Judicial Oaths in Ancient Ireland' (1902) 14 Green Bag 85. 2 Patrick Sims-Williams, 'The Visionary Celt: The Construction of an Ethnic Preconception' (1986) 11 Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies , 71-96. 3Neil McLeod, 'The Concept of Law In Early Irish Jurisprudence' (1982) 17 Irish Jurist 356. 4Geardid Mac Niocaill 'Admissable and Inadmissable Evidence In Early Irish Law' (1969) 4 Irish Jurist 332. 5Robin Stacey, 'Berrad Airechta: An Old Irish Tract on Suretyship' in T. M. Charles-Edwards, Morfydd Owen and D. B. Walters (eds), Lawyers and Laymen (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1986) 210, 220. 6 McLeod, above n 3, 356-7. 7McLeod, above n 3, 356-7. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, (London: Penguin BooksLtd, 1964) 13. eLaw Journal: Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law (2009) 16(1) Desai Link Truth in Early Irish Lavy

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