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you are here: > Self > 22. LEX
| 22.13 | Legal History.3000 - 500 BC |
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| The evidence of essential laws being part of social cohesion from as early as 3000 BCE can be found both in legend and reference from more recent documents. | ||||||||||
| During the earliest periods of establishment of civilization there was no distinction between law being divided into private/public or even religious/procedural. Instead, laws were grouped together as one. | ||||||||||
| Two of the earliest laws ever recorded are those set down by the Druid Priest Kings of Ireland, concerning the sacredness of the Holly Tree not to be touched or harmed by any person other than a priest and secondly against the act of human sacrifice. | ||||||||||
| 22.13.1 | Simplifying the complexity of social law | |||||||||
| Thanks to archeological evidence concerning ancient civilizations such as Sumer and Ebla, it is apparent that laws quickly grow in number and complexity. A number of reformers during different periods attempted to simplify these laws and "codify" them to one system. | ||||||||||
| One of the most famous of ancient legal pioneers was Hammurabi, who not only codified the laws of his time, but established a critically important precedent that the actual laws themselves should be clear and made public. | ||||||||||
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| It should not be underestimated just how important an innovation concerning the publication of law represents. | ||||||||||
| For the next four thousand years, society and empires have fought battles between the enlightened belief that law is only fair when the general public are given the opportunity to know what those laws are, while other forces have called to keep laws and the workings of the law private, secret and out of the hands of the public. | ||||||||||
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