A Closer Look: A Symposium Among Legal Historians and Law Librarians to Uncover the Spanish Roots of the Louisiana Civil Law

27 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2010 Last revised: 8 Nov 2017

See all articles by Vicenç Feliú

Vicenç Feliú

Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law

Dennis Kim-Prieto

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Rutgers Law School

Teresa M. Miguel-Stearns

University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law

Date Written: February 16, 2010

Abstract

The debate regarding whether the origin of Louisiana civil law is based in the Spanish or in the French legal tradition has been ongoing since that state’s incorporation into the United States as a result of the Louisiana Purchase. Distinguished legal scholars have argued in favor of one tradition being dominant over the other, and each has been staunch in support of that view. This article proposes and demonstrates that the Spanish, not French, civil law had an enormous influence on the creation and evolution of Louisiana civil law, and that this legacy resonates today.

The article begins with a brief historical account of the formation of Louisiana from territory to statehood. It then closely examines the contributions of Louis Casimir Elisabeth Moreau Lislet, the architect of the Digest of 1808 and the Code of 1825. Original Spanish documents and resources that were the foundation of the Digest of 1808 are analyzed and used to demonstrate how these Spanish civil law sources had a profound impact on Moreau Lislet and on the creation of Louisiana civil law. Finally the continuing evolution of Louisiana civil law and the now-famous Batiza-Pascal debate on the origins of the Louisiana civil law are carefully examined.

Keywords: legal history, Louisiana, Civil Law, Civil Code, Digest, Louis Moreau Lislet, French law, Spanish law, Digest of 1808, Louisiana Civil Code

JEL Classification: K00, K19

Suggested Citation

Feliú, Vicenç and Kim-Prieto, Dennis and Miguel-Stearns, Teresa M., A Closer Look: A Symposium Among Legal Historians and Law Librarians to Uncover the Spanish Roots of the Louisiana Civil Law (February 16, 2010). International Journal of Legal Information, Vol. 38, No. 3, p. 295, Rutgers School of Law-Newark Research Paper No. 087, Villanova Law/Public Policy Research Paper No. 2013-3030, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1694690

Vicenç Feliú (Contact Author)

Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law ( email )

3305 College Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314
United States
954 262 6211 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.law.nova.edu/faculty/administration/feliu-vicenc.html

Dennis Kim-Prieto

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Rutgers Law School ( email )

Newark, NJ
United States

Teresa M. Miguel-Stearns

University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law ( email )

United States

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