A history of law books and its influence to the modern jurisprudence

Research Project

Project/Area Number	16K03252
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Fundamental law
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	OUCHI Takashi 東北大学, 法学研究科, 教授 (10241506)
Project Period (FY)	2016-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000) Fiscal Year 2020: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000) Fiscal Year 2019: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000) Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Keywords	法律辞典 / ブラックストン / law dictionary / Blackstone / 英米法辞典 / 基礎法学 / 法制史
Outline of Final Research Achievements	The Influence of Books of Authority on the Modern Law Practice and Jurisprudence. We have researched that how many words and phrases in Blackstone’s “Commentaries” are cited or referred in two of the famous Law Dictionaries, that is, Black’s Law Dictionary 1st edition (1891) and Ballentine’s Law Dictionary (1948). We have found there are about 1500 examples in each dictionary, and most of them are in the most fundamental legal terms and conceptions in Anglo-American law and jurisprudence. We may say that the books of authority (Blackstone’s “Commentaries”) have the enormously large influence on modern law practice and jurisprudence, even today and probably in future.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	今日のわれわれが，Law Dictionaryや英米法辞典等を通して日常読み親しんでいる法律用語の相当多くが，実は『イングランド法釈義』をはじめとする権威的法典籍の記述とほぼ同じであり，今日では「古典」として遠ざけられることの多い権威的法典籍が，多くは気付かれぬままに，実は近・現代の法学・法実務の基礎としていまだに生き，影響を与えている事実を例証しえたと思料される。そしてこのことは，本研究が行ったような地道な手作業によらない限り，おそらく決して明確に表面化しないだけでなく，このまま放置していては，上記「不可視化傾向」によってますます見えにくくなる事実である。