Obscure areas of law you probably didn’t know about: roman law and canon law interview by: christina akele What is Roman law? What is Catholic canon law? We have probably heard of these areas of law. Perhaps some of us are even familiar with them and have strong opinion on either one. While both these systems may seem out-dated or irrelevant, they are certainly fascinating, revealing the basis of our current legal system in the case of Roman law, or providing us with legal context about current crises facing the Catholic institution. I sat down with Fr. Kevin Taylor to ask questions about these somewhat unknown areas of law. Fr. Kevin was asked by Archbishop Faulkner to study canon law in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas between 1995 to 1997. As part of the course, he studied the Roman law system. He later worked as a judicial vicar in the Archdiocese of Adelaide between 2004 to 2012 as a canon lawyer and taught Roman law at the University of Adelaide between 1998 to 2000.
roman law CHRISTINA (C): How would you define Roman law? FR KEVIN TAYLOR (KT): “Roman Law is the structure of law that was established by Emperor Justinian and it was then put in place throughout the Roman Empire, giving people rights and obligations. The rights went with those who were ‘free people’ – slaves had no rights – and so Justinian then wanted to order society. So, he gave [the people] obligations towards the State. From these rights, various issues started to arise that needed to be addressed. These were introduced into a legal system which took on a power of its own in many ways, and it developed a system where jurists were introduced. Jurists then would write arguments on a particular passage of law which then became a reference point and a teaching model.”
C: Why do you think that Roman law has informed so many legal systems in the modern world? KT: “[Emperor] Justinian [who lived in Constantinople at the time] was the central figure
in the study of Roman law. In about the 6th Century, he ordered the work containing the the laws to be brought together. This was going to govern the whole of the Roman Empire, which stretched from Turkey, all the way through to Great Britain. The Roman Empire needed to be administered justly and evenly. As lands were conquered, the need to put in place a legal system which made their subjects accountable to the Emperor, or to his representative, the Governor, became increasingly important.”
C: What were the original sources of Roman Law? KT: : “The decretals (written decisions) of the various Governors in the provinces on a variety of issues formed the basis of the sources. The Romans, when they conquered a
39 nation, would subject the people to their rule of order while allowing certain practices
