Messages from Antiquity: Roman Law and Current Legal Debates

Roman law has shaped the Civil law tradition but its influence undoubtedly also extends to Common law countries. Legal institutions as well as legal reasoning reassembled in the Corpus iuris civilis have been studied for nearly one thousand years in Western Europe and have been a constant point of reference. Japanese law adopted this tradition since the Meiji-era. Roman law does not only offer a historical insight into the foundations of modern legal thinking, but can also be a useful tool for deeper understanding and analysis of current legal problems. The international seminar held at the University of Kyushu in February 2016 intended to show the validity of Roman law for contemporary legal practitioners facing current challenges by looking at selected issues.