Essay by A.N. Yiannopoulos
This Essay is dedicated to the memory of the redactors of the Louisiana Civil Code. It highlights milestones in Louisiana legal history from 1804 to the present time and traces the birth, growth, cultural influence, and decline of the Louisiana Civil Code. A nebula of laws, derived from the eighteenth-century civilian traditions of France and Spain, gave birth to a nova, the Louisiana Digest of 1808. In turn, that star ceded its place to two even brighter stars in the Southern Sky, the Louisiana Civil Codes of 1825 and 1870. More than a century after its enactment, the 1870 Code disintegrated into a collection of statutes best described as a Digest of laws or as a conglomeration of mini-codes. An uncatalogued creation of civilian doctrine, legislation, and jurisprudence in a mixed jurisdiction, the Louisiana Civil Code is still the most important book of private law for those who live and die under its commands. Requiem is a celebration of life rather than a commitment to forgetfulness. In Louisiana, there is still hope for the civilian tradition: the Phoenix is reborn from its own ashes.
About the Author
A.N. Yiannopoulos. Eason-Weinmann Professor of Law, Tulane University School of Law. Diploma in Law, top honors, 1950, University of Thessaloniki, Greece; M.C.L. 1954, University of Chicago, School of Law; LL.M. 1955, J.S.D. 1956, University of California, School of Law, Berkeley; Dr. Jur. magna cum laude 1960, University of Cologne, Germany School of Law; LL.D. 1996, University of Thessaloniki.
Citation
78 Tul. L. Rev. 379 (2003)