Legal Systems
Roman-Dutch Law
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Roman-Dutch law is the fusion of Roman civil law with the customary law of Holland, formed and applied in the province of Holland during the Dutch Republic and carried by Dutch colonists to overseas territories, most durably the Cape of Good Hope. Its leading exponents were jurists Hugo Grotius, Johannes Voet and Ulrich Huber. It survived far longer in its colonial offshoots than at home: in the Netherlands itself the old law was replaced by modern codes, while it remains the doctrinal foundation of South African law and heavily influenced Scots law.
Facts
Origin YearNo single founding date is given; sources describe a 17th to 18th century flowering in the province of Holland rather than a precise year. 1600 is offered as a century-level approximation. Example JurisdictionsSouth Africa, Sri Lanka, Guyana, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Suriname, East Timor 1 Primary Source of LawScholarly legal writing and judge-made precedent 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Roman-Dutch law descends from the same Roman legal tradition codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis.
Roman-Dutch law heavily influenced Scots law.
Sources
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