Law and Justice in the Courts of Classical Athens

ISBN-13: 9780521857598 / Angielski / Twarda / 2006 / 222 str.

Adriaan Lanni

Opis

In The Law Courts of Classical Athens, Adriaan Lanni draws on contemporary legal thinking to present a new model of the legal system of classical Athens. She analyzes the Athenians' preference in most cases for ad hoc, discretionary decision-making, as opposed to what moderns would call the rule of law. Lanni argues that the Athenians consciously employed different approaches to legal decision-making in different types of courts. The varied approaches to legal process stems from a deep tension in Athenian practice and thinking, between the demand for flexibility of legal interpretation consistent with the exercise of democratic power by ordinary Athenian jurors; and the demand for consistency and predictability in legal interpretation expected by litigants and necessary to permit citizens to conform their conduct to the law. Lanni presents classical Athens as a case study of a successful legal system that, by modern standards, had an extraordinarily individualized and discretionary approach to justice.

Spis treści

1. Introduction; 2. Athens and its legal system; 3. Relevance in the popular courts; 4. The homicide courts; 5. Legal insecurity in Athens; 6. Maritime cases; 7. Conclusions.