1 Convergence and the Colonization of Custom in Pre-Modern Europe
Draft: Please Do Not Cite or Quote Convergence and the Colonization of Custom in Pre-Modern Europe Emily Kadens European legal scholars have in recent decades been attracted to the idea of the convergence of the legal systems of the countries within the European Union. Borrowing a phrase from the distant past, they speak of a new ius commune, or common law shared by all member states.1 In their ideal, the unified law would be a neutral distillation of the region’s major legal traditions, though in actuality the law they envision follows the continental civil law approach, while leaving the apparently non-compatible English common law by the wayside.2 This convergence, scholars claim, could occur through unified codes and legislation perhaps, but more happily through voluntary mechanisms such as the diffusion of a new “European” legal mentality in law schools and legal scholarship, the drafting of model principles of law, and the competition among states borne of the ability of individuals and entities to vote with their feet and demonstrate their preference for the set of national rules they most prefer.3 1 See, e.g., Reinhard Zimmermann, Das römisch-kanonische ius commune als Grundlage europäischer Rechtseinheit, 47 JURISTENZEITUNG 10 (1992). 2 Christian Von Bar & C. Lando, Communication on European Contract Law: Joint Response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code, 10 EUROPEAN REVIEW OF PRIVATE LAW 183, 222, 228 (2002); Arthur Hartkamp, Principles of Contract Law, in TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CIVIL CODE (A. S. Hartkamp & E. H.
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