oa Van Vaderland en Vreemdeling

Summary

Old Dutch law illustrates the dynamics in law between ‘own’ and ‘other’ law, between universality and particularity, private and public interests.

The stranger happened to be underprivileged in old Dutch substantive as well as procedural private law – more and longer than usually thought. In paricular strangers from near and far were easily taken into debtor’s arrest, on their person and property, based on the creditor’s own local and customary law. Out of the amalgam of old Dutch law the Learned (Roman) law counterbalanced post factum by providing fundamental arguments of universal value against debtor’s arrest, on the free market of trade and law.