Celtic Law
A number of law codes have in the past been in use in Celtic countries. While these vary considerably in details, there are certain points of similarity.
The Brehon Laws governed everyday life and politics in Ireland until the Norman invasion of 1171 (the word "Brehon" is an Anglicisation of breitheamh (earlier brithem), the Irish word for a judge). The laws were written in the Old Irish period (ca. 600–900 AD) and probably reflect the traditional laws of pre-Christian Ireland.
The codification of Welsh law has been traditionally ascribed to Hywel Dda, king of most of Wales between 942 and his death in 950. This was partly an adaptation of previously existing laws however. Welsh law remained in force in Wales until the death of Llywelyn the Last in 1282 for criminal cases, and until the Acts of Union in the mid-sixteenth century for civil cases.
Common features of these codes include an emphasis on the payment of compensation for a crime to the victim or the victim's kin rather than on punishment by the ruler. In other words, all law was tort law, with no "victimless" crimes or crimes against the State.
Read more about Celtic Law: Celtic Laws in Late Prehistory, Basic Workings, The Evolution of The Celtic Laws
Famous quotes containing the words celtic and/or law:
“Coming to Rome, much labour and little profit! The King whom you seek here, unless you bring Him with you you will not find Him.”
—Anonymous 9th century, Irish. “Epigram,” no. 121, A Celtic Miscellany (1951, revised 1971)
“There was that law of life so cruel and so just which demanded that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)