Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Reception: When one place takes some of the laws from another place. This is often talked about when people talk about taking laws from ancient Rome. In some places, like France and Germany, they still use some of these laws today. In Scotland, they use so many of these laws that people have to study them to become lawyers. But in England, they didn't take many of these laws.
Definition: Reception refers to the adoption of the law of one jurisdiction by another jurisdiction, either in whole or in part.
For example, in many parts of Europe, monarchs encouraged the reception of Roman law at the expense of medieval customary systems. This means that they adopted some or all of the laws of ancient Rome into their own legal system. In France, Holland, and Germany, the reception of Roman law has been permanent, and modern-day jurists study Roman law to understand the basis of their own legal codes. In Scotland, the law contains so much borrowing from Roman law that studying the corpus of Roman civil law is necessary for legal practice. However, a reception of Roman law never occurred in England.
These examples illustrate how one legal system can influence another. By adopting the laws of another jurisdiction, a country can benefit from the knowledge and experience of that legal system. However, it is important to note that the reception of laws is not always permanent and can vary from country to country.