René David (January 12, 1906 in Jura,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

– May 26, 1990 in

Le Tholonet Le Tholonet (; ''Lou Toulounet'' and ''Lo Tolonet'' in Provençal) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Tholonétiens''. Geography The commune is near Aix-en-Provence, and at the foot ...

, France) was a French Professor of Law. His work has been published in eight different languages. He was, in the second half of the 20th century, one of the key representatives in the field of

comparative law Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law ( legal systems) of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal "systems" (or "families") in existence in the world, including t ...

Biography

Between 1929 and 1939 David was a professor at the

University of Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he served in the French army. After the war, from 1945 to 1968, he was the chair of comparative law at the Faculty of Law of Paris (

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

). Subsequently, from 1968 to 1976 he was a professor at the

University of Aix-en-Provence Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...

. He worked on several legal projects and assignments, as in 1930 for

UNIDROIT UNIDROIT (formally, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law; French: ''Institut international pour l'unification du droit privé'') is an intergovernmental organization whose objective is to harmonize international private ...

(International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) in Rome. He lectured in various places in the world, including the University of Cambridge (1933–35), Columbia University, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Tehran. In the sixties, he led the French delegation at the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) and from 1962 to 1978 he was a board member of UNIDROIT. David was one of the writers of the Civil Code of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

in 1960 and a member of the team that wrote the civil law for Rwanda. He was also, in 1973, the head of the publication of the International Encyclopaedia of Comparative Law.

Legal theory

David, in ''Traité élémentaire de droit civile comparé'',''Traité élémentaire de droit civile comparé: Introduction à l'étude des droits étrangers et à la méthode comparative'' - in French; Paris, 1950 proposed the classification of legal systems, according to the different ideology inspiring each one, into five groups or families: *

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

Laws, a group subdivided into the: ** Romano-Germanic subgroup (comprising those legal systems where legal science was formulated according to

Roman Law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Jus ...

– see also

Civil law (legal system) Civil law is a legal system originating in mainland Europe and adopted in much of the world. The civil law system is intellectualized within the framework of Roman law, and with core principles codified into a referable system, which serves as th ...

) ** Anglo-Saxon subgroup (common law) *

Soviet Law The Law of the Soviet Union was the law as it developed in the Soviet Union (USSR) following the October Revolution of 1917. Modified versions of the Soviet legal system operated in many Communist states following the Second World War—including ...

* Muslim Law (sharia) *

Hindu Law Hindu law, as a historical term, refers to the code of laws applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in British India. Hindu law, in modern scholarship, also refers to the legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophical reflections on the n ...

Chinese Law Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches. For most of the history of China, its legal system ha ...

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical command ...

(halakha) Especially with respect to the aggregating by David of the Romano-Germanic and Anglo-Saxon Laws into a single family, David argued that the antithesis between the Anglo-Saxon Laws and Romano-German Laws, is of a technical rather than of an ideological nature. Of a different kind is, for instance, the antithesis between (say) the Italian and the American Law, and of a different kind that between the Soviet, Muslim, Hindu, or Chinese Law. According to David, the Romano-Germanic legal systems included those countries where legal science was formulated according to Roman Law, whereas

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

countries are those where law was created from the judges. The characteristics that he believed uniquely differentiate the Western legal family from the other four are: * liberal democracy * capitalist economy * Christian religion

Awards

David was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Brussels, Ottawa, Basel, Leicester and Helsinki. On September 17, 1976, he was honored with Amnesty International, with the

Erasmus Prize The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to culture, society, or social science in Europe and the rest of the world ...

in the Pieterskerk in Leiden.

Selected bibliography

* 1929: ''La protection des minorités dans les sociétés par actions'', Librairie du Recueil Sirey, Paris * 1947: ''Cours de législation civile'', Les cours de droit, Paris * 1948: ''Introduction à l'étude du droit privé de l'Angleterre'', Recueil Sirey, Paris * 1950: ''Traité élémentaire de droit civil comparé: introduction à l'étude des droits étrangers et à la méthode comparative'', R. Pichon, R. Durand-Auzias, Paris * 1952: ''French bibliographical digest. Law: books and periodicals'', culturele afdeling van de Franse ambassade, New York * 1954: ''Le droit soviétique'', met John N Hazard, Librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence, Paris, 2 volumes * 1955: ''French law'', Diocesan press, Madras * 1958: ''The French legal system: an introduction to civil law systems'', met Henry P De Vries, Oceana Publications for Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law, Columbia University, New York * 1960: ''Le Droit français'', met Philippe Ardant, Librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence, Paris * 1960: ''Le droit français. Principes et tendances du droit français'', Libr. générale de droit et de jurisprudence, Paris * 1962: ''Cours de droit civil comparé'', Les Cours de droit, Paris * 1964 ''Les grands systèmes de droit contemporains'', Dalloz, Paris, * 1964: ''Bibliographie du droit français, 1945-1960, établie pour le Comité international pour la documentation des sciences sociales sous le patronage de l'Association internationale des sciences juridiques'', met International Committee for Social Sciences Documentation, Paris, Mouton * 1967: ''Administrative contracts in the Ethiopian civil code'', Ministerie van Justitie, Addis Ababa * 1968: ''Major legal systems in the world today'', met John E. C. Brierley, London * 1972: ''French law; its structure, sources, and methodology'', State University Press, Baton Rouge, * 1973: ''Les Contrats en droit anglais'', met Françoise Grivart de Kerstrat, Libr. de Droit et de Jurisprudence R. Pichon et R. Durand-Auzias, Paris * 1974: ''Structure and the divisions of the law'', M. Nijhoff, Den Haag * 1975: ''International encyclopedia of comparative law'', met International Association of Legal Science, M. Nijhoff, Den Haag, * 1977: ''Unification du droit et arbitrage'', Kluwer, Deventer, * 1980: ''English law and French law: a comparison in substance'', Stevens and Sons, London, * 1982: ''Le droit comparé: droits d´hier, droitss de demain'', Paris, * 1982: ''Les avatars d´un com-paratiste'', Paris, * 1987: ''Le droit du commerce international: réflexions d´un comparatiste sur le droit international privé'', Paris, * 1995: ''Le droit anglais'', met Xavier Blanc-Jouvan, Presses universitaires de France, Paris,

References

* Info Pressa (2011
''Rene David, One of the Most Prominent Scholars in the Field of Comparative Law''
* Revue internationale de droit comparé lien (1976
''La remise du Prix Erasme au professeur René David''
vol. 28, number 4, page 803 * Revue internationale de droit comparé lien (1990
''René David (1906-1990)''
vol. 42, number 3, pages 865-868 * IDREF
bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Rene French legal scholars Academic staff of the University of Paris 1906 births 1990 deaths Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy