Introduction to Law

• It emphasized the legal power of the central lawmaking agencies as opposed
  to the local judges.


• It guaranteed the influence of the people on the contents of the law because
  democratic organs have influence on the legislative process. (This last pur-
  pose only became relevant later, when democracy became more important.)

Partly under the influence of the Napoleonic conquest of large parts of Europe,
codifications were introduced at the beginning of the nineteenth century in several
European countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands.
Germany notably lagged behind because a strong resistance movement rose
against codification.

This is all the more remarkable since some codifications in Germanic countries such as

Bavaria and Prussia preceded the French codification. Codification for the full German

empire was (temporarily) postponed.

Historical School Under the leadership of Von Savigny (1779–1861), a famous
law professor in Berlin, it was argued that the law of a nation reflected the “spirit” of
that nation (the “Volksgeist”). Codification would fossilize the law, and the crucial

X

X

X

State

State

State

X X X X X X

citizens

Fig. 1.2 The Westphalian duo

16 J. Hage