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1. Definition and function Forum privilegiatum, Latin for “privileged court of law,” indicates the competence of the court of law before which one must bring a case. Under the modern state of law (Rechtsstaat), In contrast to the early modern period, this competence is determined by law (statute) (for Germany: Zivilprozessordnung, § 12). This determination is made (1) in the interest of public order and (2) to protect the right of the accused to trial before a lawful, that is (today), an independent judge (for Germany: Grundgesetz, art. 19 I 2), so that he is not made subj…

1. Definition and function In every European country, leges fundamentales (Latin, “fundamental laws”) were the forerunners of the modern constitution; but only in some cases did they perform the same functions. Whereas a constitution organizes the powers of the state, guarantees individual rights, and stands above the general legal order, the plural form of  leges fundamentales shows that they were not a planned, uniform constitutional law, but rather a canon of individual texts relevant to constitutional matters. In the 18th century, super-positi…

1. Definition and scopeComparative law is an investigative method used to survey and present different national and international legal systems (on a macroscopic level) or individual legal institutions (on a microscopic level). Numerous attempts to define comparative law over its history as a scholarly subject [8. 106–111] have produced different views about its goals and methods. That also applies to the question of whether comparative law should be considered an independent discipline [8. 19; 111], [10. 87], [9. 58] or rather a juristic methodology (Jurisprudence) [9. 1…

1. Definition and functionA concession (Latin  concessio) is a form of individual rights granted by a monarchic ruler or, beginning in the 19th century, by the state, which thereby entitle the recipient to perform a particular action or service [11. 14] related to the public administration (cf. Government). Concessions may consist of sovereign  regalities (Latin  iura regalia) conferred on private individuals or may be related to specific trades [8. 162]. Concessions have a close doctrinal and functional relationship to the legal institution of privileges (cf…