Historical evolution of the law

• Author: Petru Tarchila
• Position: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University Aurel Vlaicu of Arad
• Pages: 54-59

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijjs

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 3 (2015), pp. 54-59

HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE LAW

P. Trchil

Assoc. Prof. Petru Trchil

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

University Aurel Vlaicu of Arad

*Correspondence: University Aurel Vlaicu of Arad

E- mail: danielacret@yahoo.com, drept@uvvg.ro

Abstract

The entire community acted according to these rules because their disobedience had an

influence on the survival of the entire community, as they had a powerful mystical and

religious character. Sanction measures evolved along with the evolution of communities and

they were applied to individuals who disobeyed and broke these rules. Thus, the first forms of

human community used the death penalty (blood revenge1) as means of punishment for

serious violation of the rules of coexistence. Later on, death penalty was replaced by the

individual`s expulsion from the community and as communities evolved, material redemption

was used instead of expulsion. The first judicial norms (the germs of law) developed among

these social cohabitation, organization and behaviour rules. Judicial norms differed from

other rules due to their compulsory character and by appeal to the coercive force of the

community when they were broken by certain individuals. The change of social, customized

norms into judicial norms and the emergence of law as independent entity take place along

with the occurrence of state and public power rooted in the Greek – Roman Antiquity. It has

been set that law is a social phenomenon incidental to human society; thus, Romans have

expressed this statement through the phrase: “ubi societas, ibi jus”, namely law occurs along

with the society. Law, like society is not a static, immutable entity issued once and for all;

they are under constant development and social-historical evolution. As social phenomenon,

social law experiences a constant historical evolution, bearing the mark of historical periods

and cultural, spiritual and religious features of nations.

Keywords: custom, social norm, juridical norm, regulation.

Introduction

Man is a social and sociable creature whose place in within a community. Thus emerge the

needs for organization, order, discipline, all leading to the occurrence of behaviour rules, to

sets of norms that would harmonize the individuals` interests to the interests of the

community as part of the collective interest. Along with the evolution of human society and

its organization in families, races and tribes, we witness the emergence of first behaviour rules

embedded in skills, habits, customs, etc. The entire community acted according to these rules

because their disobedience had an influence on the survival of the entire community, as they

had a powerful mystical and religious character.

1. The law classification

Behaviour rules have developed and evolved along with the evolution of human

communities, changing into social norms of cohabitation, organization and behaviour. The

11 see I. Craiovan, Teoria generala a dreptului, Ed. Sibila, Craiova, 2009, pp. 11-15.

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