Original scientific paper
Origin and Development of Legal History Courses at the Belgrade Faculty of Law
Sima Avramović
; Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Abstract
Positioning of legal history courses within teaching curricula has been a disputed subject for decades now. On the occasion of every minor change or large scale reform of academic legal studies, almost as a rule legal history disciplines are preferably targeted, that is subjected to a significant reduction or even complete elimination. However, the position of legal history courses at the largest ex-Yugoslav universities is still mostly preserved, thus ensuring the academic, general-education profile of legal studies, it being a necessary pre-condition for better understanding of law and the more pertinent intellectual imprint the legal studies have to leave on their students.
Namely, the study of history and the circumstances that fostered legal history disciplines to be included in the earliest curricula of modern period legal faculties, may contribute to position it more solidly for both present and future developments.
Accordingly, this article discusses the case of Belgrade University Faculty of Law, starting with Velika škola (Great school; 1808 – 1813), which academic tradition it has inherited, and where history courses were taught, including elements of legal history. Separate legal study department had also existed at the Licej (Lyceum school; 1841 – 1863), where the prolongment of total course length enabled more time to be invested in legal history courses.
These were also the foundations for the more serious development of legal history in Serbia, connected to the founding of another Velika škola (Great school; 1863 – 1905), which represents the most important high-education reform in 19th Century. Its part was Pravnički fakultet (Faculty of Law), which entered 20th Century with two legal history disciplines – the history of Roman law, and the history of Slavic laws, as a specific combination of general and national legal history.
During the next period (1905 – 1941), the Faculty of Law became a member of Belgrade University, but the status of legal disciplines remained essentially the same, apart from the great impact of two renowned authors, Taranovski and Solovjev.
After the Second World War, the study of legal history was divided into three separate courses. Also, the Belgrade Faculty of Law has become a center of quality BA and PhD studies (i.e. magisterial and doctoral degrees), thus attracting young legal history researchers from other parts of ex-Yugoslavia.
In spite of great difficulties, in present circumstances the Faculty of Law has managed to save the three-proned legal history courses model, which was definitely contributed by their gradual modernisation. That is particularly the case of Uporedne pravne tradicije (Comparative legal traditions) course, whose position as an academic and scientific discipline is successfully plotted, thus giving a possible example to other two legal history disciplines, as well to other faculties of law.
Keywords
legal history courses; legal education; Great school; Lyceum; Belgrade Faculty of Law
Hrčak ID:
116244
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2013.
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