Law and space in the collective consciousness of Greeks : the popular community law and K. D. Karavidas
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Abstract
Around 1936 K. D. Karavidas published a critical study entitled “The independent economic unit of the Greek village and the legal identity of the farm”, where he maintained that the farm should be reorganized not only as an economic entity but as a legal entity as well. He concluded the study by looking for the basic elements of the community both in the private sector and the public community sector. In ancient Roman Law the written and unwritten rules which governed
the status of farms are known as iura fundi. Emperor Zeno recognized in the
late 5th century A.D. the existence of this custom-generated law governing
the arrangements of sharecropping (regulating the relations between farmowners and tenants), incorporating it as an extraordinary law in the framework of Imperial legislation under the technical term ius tertium (third law). In this way the peculiar rights on the land of the emphyteuticiary and the
surface owner were reorganized, creating the institutions of emphyteusis and
surface. Zeno’s example was followed in the 6th century A.D. by Justinian. This law was officially recognized by the Isaurians during the eighth century A.D., when it was incorporated inglobos in their legislation under the title Agricultural Law. Even with the abolition of Isaurian legislation by Basilios I, the Agricultural Law continued to be in force through a concealment of its origins : it was regarded, that is, as part of Justinian Legislation and as suchwas included in Harmenopoulos’ Hexabiblos. Therefore, within the framework of the dual provisions of the Hexabiblos, both official Law and popular Law existed side by side. During the Ottoman occupation this extraordinary Law continued to be in force on a common Law basis. The above research shows the existence of a primary peculiar legal system —the agrarian community— which, despite the desastrous repercussions of foreign occupations, survives in an often latent or covert manner within the framework of official State Law, thanks to the stable principles constituting it. The passage of time and the present international climate open up new possibilities for a restructuring and incorporation of the communities as autonomous economic and cultural units, into the framework of not only the Nation-State but also of the E.C.
the status of farms are known as iura fundi. Emperor Zeno recognized in the
late 5th century A.D. the existence of this custom-generated law governing
the arrangements of sharecropping (regulating the relations between farmowners and tenants), incorporating it as an extraordinary law in the framework of Imperial legislation under the technical term ius tertium (third law). In this way the peculiar rights on the land of the emphyteuticiary and the
surface owner were reorganized, creating the institutions of emphyteusis and
surface. Zeno’s example was followed in the 6th century A.D. by Justinian. This law was officially recognized by the Isaurians during the eighth century A.D., when it was incorporated inglobos in their legislation under the title Agricultural Law. Even with the abolition of Isaurian legislation by Basilios I, the Agricultural Law continued to be in force through a concealment of its origins : it was regarded, that is, as part of Justinian Legislation and as suchwas included in Harmenopoulos’ Hexabiblos. Therefore, within the framework of the dual provisions of the Hexabiblos, both official Law and popular Law existed side by side. During the Ottoman occupation this extraordinary Law continued to be in force on a common Law basis. The above research shows the existence of a primary peculiar legal system —the agrarian community— which, despite the desastrous repercussions of foreign occupations, survives in an often latent or covert manner within the framework of official State Law, thanks to the stable principles constituting it. The passage of time and the present international climate open up new possibilities for a restructuring and incorporation of the communities as autonomous economic and cultural units, into the framework of not only the Nation-State but also of the E.C.
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