Law and the Technologies of
Communication
By Peter Tiersma
Ancient Mesopotamia
Laws of Ur-Nummu (2100 BC)
[Schoyen collection, MS 2064]
Laws of Ur-Nummu (2100 BC)
(excerpts)
# 1. If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed.
# 2. If a man commits a robbery, he will be killed.
# 3. If a man commits a kidnapping, he is to be imprisoned
and pay 15 shekels of silver.
# 7. If the wife of a man followed after another man and he
slept with her, they shall slay that woman, but that male
shall be set free.
# 8. If a man proceeded by force, and deflowered the virgin
slavewoman of another man, that man must pay five
shekels of silver.
# 13. If a man is accused of sorcery he must undergo
ordeal by water; if he is proven innocent, his accuser
must pay 3 shekels.
Code of Hammurabi
Hammurabi Code subjects, No. 1
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libel;
corrupt administration of justice;
theft,
receiving stolen goods,
robbery,
looting, and burglary;
murder, manslaughter, and bodily injury;
abduction;
liability for negligent damage to fields and crop damage caused by
grazing cattle;
• illegal felling of palm trees;
• legal problems of trade enterprises, in particular, the relationship
between the merchant and his employee traveling overland, and
embezzlement of merchandise;
Gortyn Code, 7th century BC
Athens: the Agora
Law of King Æthelberht of Kent
Gif man mannan ofslæhđ, medume leodgeld
C scillinga gebete
“If a person kills someone, let him pay an
ordinary person-price, 100 shillings.”
Book of Statutes, ca.1445
[Schoyen collection, MS 1355]
Act of Parliament, 1702
Plain Meaning Rule
The only rule for construction of Acts of Parliament is, that
they should be construed according to the intent of the
Parliament which passed the Act. If the words of the
Statute are in themselves precise and unambiguous,
then no more can be necessary than to expound those
words in that natural and ordinary sense. The words
themselves alone do, in such case, best declare the
intention of the law giver."
Lord Chief Justice Nicolas Tindal, 1844