Alain Wijffels

The Formation and Transmission of Western Legal Culture

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The Anglo-Spanish Peace Treaty of 1604: A Rehearsal for Belgian Diplomats?

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Alberico Gentili and the Hanse: The Early Reception of De iure belli (1598)

A brief glance at the famous painting of the Somerset House Conference which led to the Anglo-Spanish Peace Treaty of London in 1604 reminds that Belgian diplomacy took a significant place at the negotiation table. To the right, one recognises the English delegates, which include the Secretary of State Robert Cecil, Henry Howard, Charles Blount, Charles Howard, and Thomas Sackville; on the left, six members of the Spanish-Belgian delegation, which include Juan de Velasco, Constable of Castille, Juan de Tassis, Alessandro Rovida, Charles de Ligne, Jean Richardot, and Louis Vereycken. Three of the six Spanish-Belgian delegates were involved in several diplomatic ventures during those years and the last two also appear in the final treaty of the truce. Arenberg had been entrusted from a comparatively young age onwards with ceremonial embassies, for example after the Treaty of Vervins to France and to England on the occasion of James Is coronation. Keywords: Anglo-Spanish Peace Treaty; Arenberg; Belgian diplomacy; James I; London; Treaty of Vervins

Appellationen am Großen Rat von Mecheln

Alberico Gentili expresses his notion of assistance to the enemy in fairly broad terms. By the end of the 16th century, it must have been clear that no amount of legal arguments would reverse that balance of power in favour of the Hanse. In the Hanseatic tract, Chapter 12 aims to rebut the argument that, originally, the Hanseatic privileges caused little harm to the realm, but that in more recent times, the Kingdom was suffering much greater damage from those privileges; the argument is presented as part of one of the grounds of the 1552 revocation decree. Gentilis remarks about the Hanse in De iure belli reveal that he was acquainted with some of the essential legal features of the long-standing controversies between the Hanse and England, but also with some of their more recent developments, even though he mentions very few details. Keywords: 1552 revocation decree; Alberico Gentili; De iure belli ; England; Hanseatic tract

An unedifying monument? J.M. Kemper and some early controversies around the French civil code

Der Grose Rat entstand im 15. Jahrhundert nicht nur als ein Appellationsgericht, sondern er verfugte auch uber eine vielseitige erstinstanzliche Zustandigkeit. Daruber hinaus gab es verschiedene andere Rechtsmittel, durch welche man eine Rechtssache vor den Rat bringen konnte (z. B. Opposition, Reformation, Revision). Als Appellationsgericht war der Rat grundsatzlich fur die Uberprufung von Entscheidungen der Provinzialhofe zustandig. Allerdings gab es eine Vielzahl von Ausnahmen, so dass auch Urteile unterer Gerichte (z.B. Stadtgerichte) direkt vor dem Rat angefochten werden konnten. Das Appellationsverfahren entsprach im 15. Jahrhundert im Wesentlichen dem Muster des gelehrten romischkanonischen Verfahrensrechts, wurde in der burgundischen Zeit aber auch durch die franzosische Praxis, insbes. die des Pariser Parlement, beeinflusst. Daneben entwickelte der Rat allmahlich seinen eigenen „Stil“. Sein Verfahren wurde daruber hinaus durch die furstliche Gesetzgebung (insbes. des spaten 15. und des 16. Jahrhunderts) geregelt. Obwohl das Appellationsverfahren in der Regel die Uberprufung des angefochtenen Urteils aufgrund der Akten der Vorinstanz vorsah (ex eisdem actis, an bene vel male iudicatum sit), zeigt die Praxis, dass die Parteien, insbes. durch das Mittel der requete-civile, Abweichungen vom ordentlichen Prozessverlauf erreichen konnten. Auf diese Weise wurde u.a. das Vorbringen neuer Tatsachen einschlieslich einer eigenen Beweisfuhrung moglich. Damit naherte sich das Appellationsverfahren in der Praxis teilweise dem erstinstanzlichen Prozess an.

The civil law

Against allegations that the 1820 draft of a Civil code for the Kingdom of the Netherlands was too doctrinal and theoretical, one of J.M. Kempers arguments during the parliamentary discussions consisted in pointing out that far from being academic, the provisions of the draft which further elaborated on general principles expressed in the French Civil Code were in fact meant to settle through legislation controversies which had appeared in French legal practice and case law after the enactment of that code. Kempers unsuccessful argumentation was especially developed in the course of the debate in the Lower House on the drafts preliminary articles relating to (i) the non-retrospective effect of statutes and (ii) nullity as a default-sanction for violation of statutory rules.