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Full-Text Articles in Legal History
Remarks On David Daube’S Lectures On Sale, With Special Attention To The Liber Homo And Res Extra Commercium, Ernest Metzger
Remarks On David Daube’S Lectures On Sale, With Special Attention To The Liber Homo And Res Extra Commercium, Ernest Metzger
Ernest Metzger
This article discusses a collection of lecture notes on the Roman law of sale prepared by David Daube for an advanced course conducted at the University of Aberdeen from 1954 to 1955. The article considers in detail Daube’s lecture on the sale of the liber homo and res extra commercium in Roman law. An excerpt from that lecture is attached as an Appendix. His treatment of the subject is unfinished (and unpublished), though it is possible to see how his views might have developed. The final section offers an opinion on Daube’s approach to interpreting texts and its value to …
The Buyer Who Wants To Pay More, Ernest Metzger
The Buyer Who Wants To Pay More, Ernest Metzger
Ernest Metzger
In Roman law, a valid contract of sale required the parties to agree on a certain price. Some modern works nevertheless accept that the law ignored a certain species of error: the buyer is willing to pay more than the seller expects to receive, and a valid contract of sale is formed on the lower price. This supposed exception is based, not any text on sale, but on a single text on contracts of hire, Digest 19.2.52. This text suggests that, in some cases, a contract of hire might arise where the tenant believes he is paying a higher rent …
Acquisition Of Living Things By Specification, Ernest Metzger
Acquisition Of Living Things By Specification, Ernest Metzger
Ernest Metzger
Ownership of the product of living things, such as human tissue or cultures developed from human cells, is difficult for the law to determine. Civilian jurisdictions, with their legal heritage grounded in Roman law, offer one solution. Civilian jurisdictions would resolve such cases under the rules of specification. A recent case from the Outer House of the Scottish Court of Session (Kinloch Damph Ltd v Nordvik Salmon Farms Ltd) addresses the problem. The case was properly decided, though the grounds of the decision could be improved. Specifically, on civil law principles, civilian courts ought to award ownership of a living …