History of Law
Over the many years of man's existence, he has constantly evolved to better fit and survive in his surroundings. There are many aspects to his evolution that can be seen through his actions, his thoughts and his beliefs, to name a few. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines anthropology as the science of human beings. The focus on this paper will be the anthropological aspect dealing with the nature of human beings. The nature of human beings can be seen in many aspects of his being. One of these aspects is his laws and courts. The legal system directly reflects the way that man thinks, as the guilty are viewed as being wrong, while the innocent are viewed as being right. There are blatant representations of society's evolution in the law courts, and at the same time there are subtle indications as well. All this and more show how the legal system indicates the direction that man has traveled in his evolution.Every society has a set of rules and regulations, or laws that govern a society and control the behavior of its members . A society without laws dealing with crimes there is anarchy and war. The law courts avoid this state of society by resolving arising disputes in a civilized manner. Governments are kept in check by la
One of the earliest forms of law was Roman law, and the influence of it can still be felt at present day in many societies. Roman law took over rule from the magistrates that acted in the will of the Gods, but were discriminating against the lower classes. This shows that the Roman society in about the 8th century BC was concerned with equity to all in the society. Prior, it was the nobles that had most of the power and used it against the lower class, but Roman law made it so that the lower, or plebeian, class was treated with more fairness. Roman laws set forth regulations on matters such as property, payment of debts, and appropriate compensation or other remedial measures for damage to persons. The key factor in this is equity to the plebeian class that was previously victimized against. Though Roman law lost some of its power, by the 12th century when European commerce recommenced, Roman law was once again incorporated in many European countries . Once again, society, in this case many European countries were concerned with equity of all parties involved. By incorporating Roman law, the European community illustrated its holistic nature. ws that limit the amount of power that any governing body has, and therefore instills freedom in the society's citizens. Laws can improve the quality of life of the people by increasing the effort put into the health, education and welfare of the people. As the Maya civilization was taken over by the Spanish, it is likely that Spaniards used martial law to govern the society. Martial law is used when necessary and is used to suppress insurrection, riot or disorder . It can be argued that martial law does not in fact do all the things that it claims to do. The citizens of the society do not necessarily have to agree with the situation that presents itself when martial law is implemented, but rather they just have to live with whatever occurs. Many current legal systems, like the United States for instance, are legislated and regulated by elected government officials who, because they are elected, most be responsive to the views and thoughts of the people. Martial law on the other hand, is not accountable to anyone else. Since the military is behind the leader, it is unlikely that a force strong enough would present itself as opposition to topple the regulatory body. Therefore, the martial law is in place until either the military overthrows the leader, or the leader changes his view. A society that implements this form of law is one that is likely hostile and untrusting in that they need to be governed by force. For the common law system, the society that uses it is more dynamic than the society that uses the civil system that is they are more accommodating to change . Societies that employ the common law system are societies that understand the importance of experience and presence. Experience in that the past is a key learning tool in understanding the present. The common law courts use decisions that have been made in the past as a guiding factor to what decision should be made in the present, but at the same time they are not bound by the decisions that were made in the past. The importance of presence is apparent since the circumstances of each case would be different from the next and any straightforward rule or regulation may not be fitting to the situation. The common law system puts it at the discretion of the judge as to what should happen with regards to the case at hand. By recognizing these two needs, experience and presence, the society shows that it has more of an understanding nature. Comparatively, societies in the present are more thorough than the ones in the past, as well as more equitable. In the past times, there was no jury to hear the case and render a judgement, there was only a judge, or in even earlier times a leader that made the decision. This shows that man has evolved into being more compassionate to his peers
Some common words found in the essay are:
England France, Islamic Martial, , Spanish Spaniards, Canada Canada, Hofer Islamic, Hemisphere Europeans, Maya Convicted, Norman Conquest, Roman Canon, roman law, common law, law system, civil law, martial law, canon law, law society, common law system, legal system, islamic law, maya civilization, civil law system, law canon law, society found canada, societies roman law,
Approximate Word count = 2642
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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