Legal Pluralism in Europe - National Laws, European Legislation, and Non-Legislative Codifications

The paper compares the present state of European private law with the plural structure of early modern law in Europe. This comparison reveals – despite important differences – important structural similarities. Perhaps the most striking one is the structural parallel in the piecemeal political legislation of the acquis communautaire on the one hand, and medieval Canon law and early modern local legislation on the other hand. The resulting fractions between the formal acquis communautaire and the informal acquis commun are an expression of a new plural structure of modern European private law that resembles the plural structure of the earlier ius commune, itself based on an informal and a formal body of law (Roman law viz Canon law)