About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

64 S. African L.J. 494 (1947)
The Future of Roman-Dutch Law in South Africa

handle is hein.journals/soaf64 and id is 518 raw text is: 494 THE SOUTH AFRICAN LAW JOURNAL. THE FUTURE OF ROMAN-DUTCH LAW IN SOUTH AFRICA. In the year in which van Riebeek landed at the Cape there was published in Leiden by Simon van Leeuwen, Advocate and Jurist, the Paratitla Juris Novissi'mi, dat is een kort begrip van het Rooms-Hollands Recht, the forerunp,'er of the author's great work, Het Rooms-Hollands Recht, first pub- lished in 1664. The invention of this fortunate phrase marked the recognition of a process of development which had been taking place for upwards of a century in the Netherlands in general and -the Province of Holland and West Zeeland in particular, namely, the welding together of the principles of ancient customary law and of Roman Law to form a legal system destined by the events of 1652 to become the Common Law of a vast territory, stretching from the Zambesi to the sea. The double origin of this system of law has proved singularly fruitful during the last two hundred and fifty years during which Roman-Dutch Law, while developing into the last surviving example of the jus romanum hodiernum, has been supported on a strong foundation of popular custom, at first in the Netherlands, and then in South Africa. At the same time, Roman-Dutch lawyers have never scrupled to borrow from other systems when it seeined to benefit their own, and although such activities may have been carried to excessive lengths at times, one cannot in honesty do otherwise than admit that. a great deal of such borrowing has been mo4t beneficial. A few observations on the' two main sources of our law may not be out of place here. The great Ronanists from Grotiue to Bynkershoek have sometimes been accused of sacrificing the pure customary law of Rolland on the altar of Roman Law. It cannot, however, be denied, firstly, that the orderly struc- ture which Roman Jurisprudence bequeathed to Roman-Dutch Law is a legacy beyond price, and secondly, that in matters where one would' expect custom to be most tenacious, notably in the law of persons and property, Roman Law has served

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most