Institute for Roman Law and Comparative Legal History

Roman legal texts offer valuable insights into how conflicts between equals can be resolved efficiently. Roman law is therefore an inexhaustible source of guidance for the application and further development of modern civil law. An understanding of Roman law makes it easier to navigate the German Civil Code (BGB), as it reveals the systematic structure underlying the numerous and sometimes confusing legislative interventions.

“Lawyers who are blind to history are dangerous lawyers,” Michael Stolleis once said. The core subjects help students understand that legal norms are the product of historical, and in particular philosophical, social and economic conditions. The courses offered in the core module (SPB I) enable students to engage in-depth with the fundamentals of German, European and international law.

For almost 1000 years, lawyers have been trained in Roman law. This has shaped not only our modern law; German civil law scholars still think in ‘Roman’ terms: they use Roman legal concepts and regard the institutions of Roman law as just as self-evident as the civil law system derived from the Corpus Iuris Civilis. Understanding our legal thinking, grasping the distinctive nature of Roman legal institutions and comprehending the development of the system is the task of research into Roman law and its history.

Current research projects

Here you will find an overview of the PhD projects at the Chair

Cluster of Excellence at the  Bonn Center for Dependency & Slavery Studies