Paper by A.N. Yiannopoulos
Members of the legal profession in Louisiana and in sister states, and comparativists in most parts of the world have long wondered about the state and direction of Louisiana law. For some, Louisiana has been, and still is, a civil law jurisdiction. For others, Louisiana has ceased to be a civil law jurisdiction and has become either a common law jurisdiction or a mixed jurisdiction sharing the civilian tradition as well as the common law tradition. The purpose of this paper is to determine the present state of Louisiana civil law and to speculate briefly on its future.
An accurate description of the present state of Louisiana law requires a clear understanding of past developments. In turn, meaningful speculation as to the future presupposes a clear understanding of the present state of the law. This is so because the law of a living society is in a dynamic state: it is what it has been and what it will become. The law carries with it the genes of legal institutions that have faded away as well as those that will shape the legal institutions of the future.
Before looking into the past and speculating as to the future, it is important to define certain terms, such as "civil law," "civil law jurisdiction," and "civil law system." Definitions are necessary to resolve controversies concerning the nature, structure, and function of Louisiana law and the clarification of the writer's own position. One who asks the question whether the civil law of Louisiana is a lost cause impliedly asserts that Louisiana has, or at least had in the past, a "civil law." Indeed, the question is a "propositional form."
About the Author
A.N. Yiannopoulos. W.R. Irby Professor of Law, Tulane University School of Law.
Citation
54 Tul. L. Rev. 830 (1980)