Page:An introduction to Roman-Dutch law.djvu/58

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
18
Roman-Dutch Law

of Decisions have come down to us and are a valuable source of law. Particular mention may be made of the Sententien en gewezen Zaken van den Hoogen en Provincialen Raad in Holland, Zeeland en West-Friesland, published by Joannes Naeranus at Rotterdam in 1662; of the Utriusque Hollandiae, Zelandiae, Frisiaeque Curiae Decisiones of Cornelius Neostadius, printed at the Hague in 1667; and of the Decisiones Frisicae sive rerum in Suprema Frisiorum Curia judicatarum libri V of Johannes à Sande, himself a Judge of the Court whose decisions he reports. The Latin original of this work is dated 1634. There is also a Dutch translation. These three volumes of Reports are often cited by Voet. Van der Keessel frequently refers to a volume entitled Decisien en Besolutien van den Hove van Holland, published at the Hague in 1751; but this and Van der Linden's Verzameling van merkwaardige Gewijsden der Gerechtshoven in Holland,[1] published at Leyden in 1803, are rarely obtainable.

iv. Opinions of Jurists. IV. Opinions of Jurists. The numerous volumes of Consultatien, Advysen, &c., are a very interesting and characteristic feature of the Roman-Dutch system of jurisprudence. It is enough here to refer more particularly to the well-known collection entitled Consultatien, Advysen en Advertissementen gegeven ende geschreven by verscheijden Treffelijke Rechtsgeleerden in Hollant en elders (commonly known as the Hollandsche Consultatien), originally published by Naeranus in 1645,[2] containing the opinions of Grotius and other eminent lawyers. The opinions of Grotius, in particular, have been translated and edited by the late Mr. D. P. de Bruyn (1894). Other collections designed to supplement the above-named work were issued at various dates during the eighteenth century. The latest work of the kind, containing opinions by the eminent jurist J. D. Meijer, was published at Amsterdam in 1842.

  1. The Introduction to this volume contains some valuable observations by the compiler on the authority of decided cases.
  2. 3 Wessels, p. 243.