Teaching Comparative Law in Eighteenth-Century England: Thomas Bever as a Comparative Lawyer as Exemplified by his Lectures on Polish Law and the Constitution

• Authors: Łukasz Jan Korporowicz

Title variants

PL

Nauczanie prawa porównawczego w osiemnastowiecznej Anglii. Thomas Bever jako prawnik komparatysta na przykładzie jego wykładu o polskim prawie i ustroju

Abstracts

PL

Zazwyczaj początki badań prawnoporównawczych datuje się na schyłek dziewiętnastego stulecia. Badania tego rodzaju prowadzone były jednak już znacznie wcześniej. Wśród pierwszych poważnych zwolenników koncepcji zestawiania różnych systemów prawnych był Thomas Bever. Był on prawnikiem cywilistą, który skutecznie łączył praktykę występując przed angielskimi sądami kościelnymi i admiralicji z przynależnością do jednego z oksfordzkich kolegiów oraz obowiązkami wykładowcy. W latach 60. i 70. osiemnastego stulecia Bever prowadził w zastępstwie (bądź równolegle do) królewskiego profesora wykład prawa rzymskiego. Jego wykłady, które były pod wieloma względami wyjątkowe, wieńczyła seria spotkań prawnoporównawczych. W ich trakcie, Bever omawiał ustrój i porządki prawne kilkunastu europejskich krajów, tak w ujęciu historycznym, jak i współczesnym. Celem artykułu jest omówienie poglądów Bevera nad temat badań prawnoporównawczych, jak również zaprezentowanie tematyki wspomnianych wykładów.

EN

The origins of comparative legal studies usually date back to the late 19th century. These kind of studies, however, were undertaken on a regular basis much earlier. Among the first serious adherents of the idea of comparing different legal systems was Thomas Bever. Bever was a civilian lawyer who successfully combined practice in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts of England with Oxford’s fellowship and teaching duties. In the 1760s and 1770s, Bever was teaching the Civil law course on behalf of (or independently of) the current holders of the Regius Professorship. His lectures, unique in many aspects, were crowned with a set of comparative lectures. Bever was presenting the constitutional and legal systems of several European countries, including Poland, both in historical and modern dimensions. The aim of this article is to discuss Bever’s attitude towards comparative legal studies as well as to present his comparative method by reference to part of his lectures devoted to the old Polish law and constitution.

Keywords

PL

osiemnasty wiek; Oxford; prawo porównawcze; nauczanie

EN

Eighteenth-century; Oxford; Comparative law; Teaching; Old Polish law

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Iuridica
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 99
• Pages: 123-135

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

Łukasz Jan Korporowicz

• University of Lodz, Faculty of Law and Administration, Department of Roman Law

• https://orcid.org/0000000257255018

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Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/0208-6069.99.09

Biblioteka Nauki

2120446