16th International Congress of Medieval Canon Law (July 20, 2022)

Series: Comparative studies in continental and Anglo-American legal history ; Bd. 11.

Series: Comparative Studies in Continental and Anglo-American Legal History - Band 1

"This collection, by leading legal scholars, judges and practitioners, together with theologians and church historians, presents historical, theological, philosophical, and legal perspectives on Christianity and criminal law. Following a preface by Lord Judge, formerly Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and an introductory chapter, the book is divided into four thematic sections. Part I addresses the historical contributions of Christianity to criminal law drawing on biblical sources, early church fathers and canonists, as far as the Enlightenment. Part II, titled Christianity and the principles of criminal law, compares crime and sin, examines concepts of mens rea and intention, and considers the virtue of due process within criminal justice. Part III looks at Christianity and criminal offences, considering their Christian origins and continuing relevance for several basic crimes that every legal system prohibits. Finally, in Part IV, the authors consider Christianity and the enforcement of criminal law, looking at defences, punishment, and forgiveness."-- Publisher, page preceding title page

Each volume also bears a distinctive title.
Editors: 1985-1997, H. Coing, K.W. Nörr; 1998-, H. Coing, K.W. Nörr, R. Helmholz, R. Zimmermann.

"Much has been written about the lives and achievements of the many distinguished lawyers and judges who have made a lasting contribution to English jurisprudence from the medieval times of Henry of Bratton to the present day. Much also has been written on the influence of Christianity in English society over those centuries. This collection, one of a series of national studies, is novel in that it seeks explore the life and faith of Great Christian Jurists in English History"-- Provided by publisher.

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This study addresses the ius commune's relation to and influence on English law. Helmholz aims to fill in some of the gaps in scholarship on the common legal past of Western law, the history of the Roman and canon laws, the history of the ecclesiastical courts, parallels between the iuscommune and English common law, and English church history. Source: Syndetics

This study addresses the ius commune's relation to and influence on English law. Helmholz aims to fill in some of the gaps in scholarship on the common legal past of Western law, the history of the Roman and canon laws, the history of the ecclesiastical courts, parallels between the iuscommune and English common law, and English church history. Source: Syndetics

The law of presumptions has never been popular among commentators. It has attracted few scholars, and most of the few who have ventured into the subject have come away as critics rather than admirers. Certainly, there are plausible reasons for this bad reputation. Presumptions are evidently inferior to more direct forms of proof; indeed they may not be forms of proof at all. They raise difficulties of definition and classification. Some presumptions also seem quite artificial, hard to defend as reliable indicators of the truth.Despite their poor reputation, they have long been accepted and applied in practice. Legal presumptions play a part in virtually all Western legal systems. It is hard to image a workable law of proof without them, and their acceptance has been a fact of life for many centuries. Even in England, where the use of juries in the common law might seem to have excluded any need for legal presumptions, they took hold from an early date. They thus seem to be a natural candidate for comparative historical treatment. The essays in this volume seek to address this gap in scholarship.The essays do not set out directly to rehabilitate the law of presumptions. They seek rather to explore the process by which presumptions worked their way into Western law and to examine the links that have existed between legal systems. The essays embrace not only English common law and Continental systems, but also >mixed systems< like the law of Scotland and of Southern Africa. By examining the subject from an historical point of view, they seek to help explain the acceptance and persistence of a law of presumptions in Western law. Source: Syndetics

This book tells one part of the long history of the institution of marriage. Questions concerning the formation and annulment of marriage came under the exclusive jurisdiction of the church courts during the Middle Ages. Drawing on unpublished records of these courts, Professor Helmholz describes the practical side of matrimonial jurisdiction and relates it to his outline of the formal law of marriage. He investigates the nature of the cases heard, the procedure used, the people involved and changes over the period covered, all of which add to what is known about marriage and legal practice in medieval England. The concluding assessment of canonical jurisdiction over marriage suggests that the application of the law was more successful than is usually thought. Source: Syndetics

The theory of natural law grounds human laws in the universal truths of God’s creation. Until very recently, lawyers in the Western tradition studied natural law as part of their training, and the task of the judicial system was to put its tenets into concrete form, building an edifice of positive law on natural law’s foundations. Although much has been written about natural law in theory, surprisingly little has been said about how it has shaped legal practice. Natural Law in Court asks how lawyers and judges made and interpreted natural law arguments in England, Europe, and the United States, from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the American Civil War.

R. H. Helmholz sees a remarkable consistency in how English, Continental, and early American jurisprudence understood and applied natural law in cases ranging from family law and inheritance to criminal and commercial law. Despite differences in their judicial systems, natural law was treated across the board as the source of positive law, not its rival. The idea that no person should be condemned without a day in court, or that penalties should be proportional to the crime committed, or that self-preservation confers the right to protect oneself against attacks are valuable legal rules that originate in natural law. From a historical perspective, Helmholz concludes, natural law has advanced the cause of justice. (From Harvard University Press web site)

Natural-law theory grounds human laws in universal truths of God's creation. The task of the judicial system was to build an edifice of positive law on natural law's foundations. R. H. Helmholz shows how lawyers and judges made and interpreted natural law arguments in the West, and concludes that historically it has advanced the cause of justice. Source: Syndetics

Criddle, Evan J., Paul B. Miller, Robert H. Sitkoff, and Richard H. Helmholz. "Fiduciary Principles in the Canon Law." In The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law.: Oxford University Press, 2019-05-27.

Challenging the accounts of John Henry Wigmore and Leonard W. Levy, this history of the privilege against self-incrimination demonstrates that what has sometimes been taken to be an unchanging tenet of our legal system has actually encompassed many different legal consequences in a history that reaches back to the Middle Ages. Each chapter of this definitive study uncovers what the privilege meant in practice. The authors trace the privilege from its origins in the medieval period to its first appearance in English common law, and from its translation to the American colonies to its development into an effective protection for criminal defendants in the nineteenth century. The authors show that the modern privilege--the right to remain silent--is far from being a basic civil liberty. Rather, it has evolved through halting and controversial steps. The book also questions how well an expansive notion of the privilege accords with commonly accepted principles of morality. This book constitutes a major revision of our understanding of an important aspect of both criminal and constitutional law. Source: Syndetics

Historians of the English legal profession have written comparatively little about the lawyers who served in the courts of the Church. This volume fills a gap; it investigates the law by which they were governed and discusses their careers in legal practice. Using sources drawn from the Roman and canon laws and also from manuscripts found in local archives, R. H. Helmholz brings together previously published work and new evidence about the professional careers of these men. His book covers the careers of many lesser known ecclesiastical lawyers, dealing with their education in law, their reaction to the coming of the Reformation, and their relationship with English common lawyers on the eve of the Civil War. Making connections with the European ius commune, this volume will be of special interest to English and Continental legal historians, as well as to students of the relationship between law and religion. Source: Syndetics

In this book one of the world's foremost legal historians draws upon the evidence of the canon law, court records and the English common-law system to demonstrate the extent to which, contrary to received wisdom, Roman canon law survived in England after the upheavals of the Protestant Reformation. R. H. Helmholz provides an extensive examination of the manuscript records of the ecclesiastical courts and professional literature of the English civilians. Rebutting the views of Maitland and others, he shows how English looked to the Continent for guidance and authority in administering the system of justice they had inherited from the Middle Ages. Intellectual links between England and the Continent are shown to have survived the Reformation and the abolition of papal jurisdiction. The extent to which papal material was still used in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries will interest all readers and surprise many. Source: Syndetics

Series: Publications of the Selden Society ; v. 101.

Despite the long reach of classical canon law--across Europe, well into modern times, and into such secular subjects as theft, wills, and the sale of goods--it has been the subject of far too few general studies in English. Illuminating the basic nature of the canon, this work explores the roles of moral, social, political, and religious values in the laws' development through the seventeenth century. At the same time, R. H. Helmholz makes relevant the attitudes and formal techniques of the laws' authors, practitioners, and interpreters. Helmholz first discusses the origins of the canon law; the collection of texts, known as the Corpus iuris canonici, which form its foundation; the basic sources on which the Corpus draws, including the Bible and Roman law; and the body of juristic commentary on the Corpus. He then considers, in turn, fourteen of the major areas affected by the laws such as the governance of the Church (in particular the law of election of bishops), the sacraments (baptism), and legal sanctions (the law of excommunication). In conclusion, Helmholz points to three common themes that characterize the laws and their implementation: their close connection with the goals and ideals of the Gregorian reform movement, a concern for the spiritual health of all concerned parties, and an interest in securing justice and protection for the unfortunate. Helmholz also comments on the lawyerly skill of the men who devoted their careers to the canon law and the law's ambitious goals. He does not shrink from describing its unpalatable aspects, such as its acceptance of slavery, its restrictions on religious freedom, and its use as an instrument of the clergy's agenda. The size and complexity of the body of church law and its jurisprudence have kept historians in many fields from appreciating how this topic might enrich their studies. The Spirit of Classical Canon Law provides them with the ideal entree.Source: Syndetic

Essays on the history of Common Law and Canon Law in honor of the legal historian Richard Helmholz. Source: Syndetics

Series: Publications of the Selden Society ; v. 127.