Ancient legal thought : equity, justice, and humaneness from Hammurabi and the pharaohs to Justinian and the Talmud /
May, Larry,author.
"Nearly four thousand years ago, kings in various ancient societies, especially in Mesopotamia (contemporary Iraq), faced a crisis of major proportions. Large portions of the population were horribly in debt, many being forced to sell themselves or their children into slavery to pay off their debts. The laws and customs seemed to support the commercial practices that allowed lenders to charge 20%-30% interest, and the law protected the lenders and gave no recourse for the indebted. Strict justice called for the creditors to receive what they were due. But another legal concept, the emerging idea of equity, seemed to call for a different result - the use of law as a vehicle to free people from economic oppression. Debt relief edicts were instituted - "clean-slate laws" as they were known - and are of obvious relevance today as well where crushing debt is a major issue underlying social inequality"--
Includes bibliographical references (pages 693-709) and index.
Part A. Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt -- Section I. Ancient procedural law -- Ancient legal reasoning -- Judging, trials, and assemblies -- Oaths, ordeals, and truth -- Section II. Freedom, equality, and legal status -- Debt forgiveness and equity -- Freedom and slavery -- Class, legal status, and equality -- Women's separate sphere -- Section III. Crime and punishment -- Complicity and conspiracy -- Crime and Lex talionis -- Capital punishment -- Section IV. International justice -- Ancient treaties and trust -- Aggressive war and necessity -- Part B. Ancient Greece and China -- Section V. Law, justice, and equity -- Custom and law in ancient Greece and China -- Justice and equity -- Trials, juries, and democratic assemblies -- Section VI. Legal status -- Citizens and aliens -- Women -- Slavery and democracy -- Section VII. Responsibility and punishment -- Causation and responsibility -- Homicide and pollution -- Justification, excuse, and mitigation -- Hubris and impiety -- Section VIII. War and amnesty -- Amnesty, sanctuary, and exile -- Justified war and the law of nations -- Part C. India and the Roman republic -- Section IX. Law, justice and equity -- Law and its sources in ancient Roman and Indian law -- Legal procedures and trials -- Equity and justice -- Section X. Legal status and social class -- Legal status of women -- Social class and slavery -- Section XI. Responsibility and punishment -- Political and moral crimes -- Punishment, cruelty, and humaneness -- Crimes concerning political and legal abuse -- Section XII. War and treaties -- Treaties, hostages, and keeping faith -- The rules of war and the law of peoples -- Part D. Rabbinic law and the Roman Empire -- Section XIII. Justice, equity and conflict of laws -- Law, morality, and religion -- Dual legal regimes -- The law and ancient legal scholars -- Section XIV. Differential status -- Women in Jewish and Roman thought -- Slaves in Jewish and Roman legal thought -- Section XV. Responsibility -- Intention and causation in criminal law -- Injury and murder -- Public punishment, penal prisons, and police -- Section XVI. Universal law at the end of ancient times -- Universal law and human rights -- The origins of the just war doctrine.
"Nearly four thousand years ago, kings in various ancient societies, especially in Mesopotamia (contemporary Iraq), faced a crisis of major proportions. Large portions of the population were horribly in debt, many being forced to sell themselves or their children into slavery to pay off their debts. The laws and customs seemed to support the commercial practices that allowed lenders to charge 20%-30% interest, and the law protected the lenders and gave no recourse for the indebted. Strict justice called for the creditors to receive what they were due. But another legal concept, the emerging idea of equity, seemed to call for a different result - the use of law as a vehicle to free people from economic oppression. Debt relief edicts were instituted - "clean-slate laws" as they were known - and are of obvious relevance today as well where crushing debt is a major issue underlying social inequality"--
Law, Ancient.
Law, Ancient
Law
Law
Law.
Law, Ancient.