‘ILLOTIS MANIBUS’. HENRYK KUPISZEWSKI I WSPóŁCZESNE DYSKUSJE ROMANISTYCZNE W POLSCE

“Illotis Manibus”: Henryk Kupiszewski and the Contemporary Discussion of Roman Law in PolandSummaryIn his discussion of the significance of Roman law Henryk Kupiszewski referred to Gaius’ observation that the study of the lawcould not be conducted “with unwashed hands” (illotis manibus), viz.without a knowledge of the historical sources. In my opinion it is imperative to remind ourselves of this today, when some Polish scholarsof Roman law are criticising source studies and historical research onRoman law, and opting instead for modernity and a future examinedprimarily from the fuzzy perspective of decodification. In Prawo rzymskie a współczesność, his book on Roman law and the present times,Kupiszewski emphasised that the principal area of research on Romanlaw could take was still the examination of the work and achievementof the iurisprudentes, and that any other strategy would put it on thepath for self-destruction. Roman law studies are, of course facing new,contemporary problems. For instance, it has been observed that effectively the historical and legal awareness of today’s scholars of civil lawno longer encompasses Roman law. So we should be trying to preservethe connection of Roman law with the disciplines of positive law, andespecially making a concerted effort to work on a synthesis of Romanlaw as an introduction to contemporary private law. Furthermore, inour research we should take into consideration the close connectionbetween Roman law and other disciplines relating to antiquity – another point Kupiszewski made. We should also view the tradition ofRoman law as the common denominator in the European consensus onthe law. Hence the purposefulness of continuing the basic trend in thestudy of Roman law, from the aspect both of its ancient history and ofits European tradition and present-day manifestations.