歷史法學
楊智傑

• The German Historical School of Law is a 19th century intellectual movement in the study of
German law. With Romanticism as its background, it emphasized the historical limitations of the law. It stood in opposition to an earlier movement called
Vernunftsrecht (Natural Law).
• The Historical School is based on the writings and teaching of Gustav Hugo and especially Friedrich
Carl von Savigny .

• The basis premise of the German Historical School is that law is not to be regarded as an arbitrary grouping of regulations laid down by some authority.
Rather, those regulations are to be seen as the expression of the convictions of the people, in the same manner as language, customs and practices are expressions of the people. The law is grounded in a form of popular consciousness called the
Volksgeist .
（人的精神）

• Laws can stem from regulations by the authorities, but more commonly they evolve in an organic manner over time without interference from the authorities. The ever-changing practical needs of the people play a very important role in this continual organic development.
• In the development of a legal system, is it the professional duty of lawyers – in the sense of the division of labor in society – to base their academic work on law on ascertaining the will of the people. In this way, lawyers embody the popular will.

• The German Historical School was divided into Romanists and the Germanists. The
Romantists, to whom Savigny also belonged, held that the Volksgeist springs from the reception of the Roman law . While the
Germanists ( Karl Friedrich Eichhorn , Jakob
Grimm , Georg Beseler , Otto von Gierke ) saw medieval German Law as the expression of the German Volksgeist .

• 弗里德里希 · 卡爾 · 馮 · 薩維尼 ( Friedrich Carl von Savigny ，
1779 年 2 月 21 日 － 1861 年 10 月 25 日 ) ，生於 美因河畔法蘭克福
市， 德國 著名的法學家和國王顧問， 歷史法學派 的創始人。
1803 年 薩維尼發表了著名的《財 產法 》。 1808 年 在蘭茨胡特
被正式聘為教授，教授羅馬 民法 ，但薩維尼在那裡只教授了
三個學期。 1810 年 薩維尼受到 威廉 · 馮 · 洪堡 的邀請到新成立
的 弗里德里希 威廉 柏林大學 教授羅馬法。 1814 年 為一篇著
名的論文進行答辯，該論文就是 Über die Notwendigkeit eines allgemeinen b ürgerlichen Rechts für Deutschland （關
於一個一般的德意志民法的必要性）。
• 1815 年 薩維尼與 Karl Friedrich Eichhorn 等一起創建立歷史法
學派雜誌社，作為歷史法學派的機構。 1815 年 出版《中世紀
羅馬法歷史》第一冊， 1831 年 完稿。 1835 年 開始撰寫《現代
羅馬法體系》一書。

• In 1814 appeared his pamphlet Vom Beruf unserer Zeit f ür Gesetzgebung und
Rechtswissenschaft (new edition, 1892). It was a protest against the demand for codification, and was intended as a reply to
Thibaut's pamphlet urging the necessity of forming a code for Germany which should be independent of the influence of foreign legal systems.

• Savigny did not oppose the introduction of new laws, or even a new system of laws, but only objected to the proposed codification on two grounds:
– that the damage which had been caused by the neglect of former generations of jurists could not be quickly repaired, and that time was required to set the house in order
– that there was great risk of the so-called natural law, with its "infinite arrogance" and its "shallow philosophy" ruining such a scheme.

• The enduring value of this pamphlet is that it saved jurisprudence from the hollow abstractions, and proved that a historical study of the positive law was a condition precedent to the right understanding of the science of all law .

• 梅因，全名 为亨利 · 詹姆斯 · 萨姆那 · 梅因，生于
1822 年，死于 1888 年，是 19 世 纪 英国 著名的
法律 史学家， 历史法学派 在英国的代表人物，
晚期 历史法学派的 集大成者。

• Sir Henry James Sumner Maine , KCSI (15 August 1822 —
3 February 1888), was an English comparative jurist and historian . He is famous for the thesis outlined in Ancient Law that law and society developed "from status to contract."
According to the thesis, in the ancient world individuals were tightly bound by status to traditional groups, while in the modern one, in which individuals are viewed as autonomous agents, they are free to make contracts and form associations with whomever they choose. Because of this thesis, Maine can be seen as one of the forefathers of modern sociology of law .

• 梅因的一生除参与教学和从事法律 实务之外，绝大部
分 时间都集中精力从事法律史的研究。他对雅利安民
族不同支系，特 别是 罗马人 、 英国人 、 爱尔兰人 、 斯
拉夫人 和 印度人 的古代社会的 风俗、习惯、法的 起源
以及法律制度 进行了深入系统的研究和比较，从而得
出有关法的起源、 演 变 和 发展 的 较为科学的结论，对
后市法学的 发展有着深远的影响。所以，人们尊称他
为近代法律史学科和比较法学科的开路先锋。