Anali Pravnog Fakulteta u Beogradu (Jan 2018)
Roman law in doctoral theses of Nikola Krstić from 1854
Abstract
The author analyses a dozen of claims ('theses') from Roman law in the doctoral work of Nikola Krstić 'Theses ex scientis juridicis et politicis', who defended it at the Royal University of Pest in 1854. This Latin text has not been published so far, so comprehensive translation with expert commentary is a task that is awaiting our legal science. However, on the basis of this partial analysis, which includes only a small piece of a total of seventy theses, the author concludes that this candidate had an enviable legal education and a boldness to engage in an under-investigated area of legal science. Krstić showed a good knowledge of the basic institutions of Roman law and desire to introduce in its 'theses' the issues that are innovative, insufficiently tested. He was comparing different Roman institutions mutually, comparing them also with the law of other ancient nations, searching for their influences in medieval Serbia and modern Civil Codes (Serbian and Austrian). Krstić's work represents the first step in the area of legal history in Serbia and he is justified as the founder of this legal discipline at the University of Belgrade. The author concludes that the questions that Krstić raised still remain the subject of studying of numerous civilians and Romanists, up to the most recent times.
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