O DIREITO E A JUSTIÇA NO ANTIGO ORIENTE MÉDIO

Résumé

A comparative study of law and justice of the ancient Near Eastern civilizations provides us with valuable insights into their social and political structure. Rules regarding the relations between members of the social unit may originally have been imposed by the arbitrary will of the strongest member of the community, or they may represent mutual concessions whereby the individual will submit himself to the regime tending to the common good. With the changed conditions of society, the laws had to be brought into harmony with them and the jurisdiction of the village council or of the chief of the clan was replaced by the administration of the law by the central government.