Law and space in the collective consciousness of Greeks : The popular community law and K. D. Karavidas
Part of : Balkan studies : biannual publication of the Institute for Balkan Studies ; Vol.26, No.2, 1985, pages 271-297
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271-297
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Around 1936 K. D. Karavidas published a critical study entitled “Theindependent economic unit of the Greek village and the legal identity of thefarm”, where he maintained that the farm should be reorganized not onlyas an economic entity but as a legal entity as well.He concluded the study by looking for the basic elements of the communityboth in the private sector and the public community sector.In ancient Roman Law the written and unwritten rules which governedthe status of farms are known as iura fundi. Emperor Zeno recognized in thelate 5th century A.D. the existence of this custom-generated law governingthe arrangements of sharecropping (regulating the relations between farmownersand tenants), incorporating it as an extraordinary law in the frameworkof Imperial legislation under the technical term ius terlium (third law).In this way the peculiar rights on the land of the emphyteuticiary and thesurface owner were reorganized, creating the institutions of emphyteusis andsurface. Zeno’s example was followed in the 6th century A.D. by Justinian.This law was officially recognized by the Isaurians during the eighthcentury A.D., when it was incorporated inglobos in their legislation underthe title Agricultural Law.Even with the abolition of Isaurian legislation by Basilios I, the AgriculturalLaw continued to be in force through a concealment of its origins:it was regarded, that is, as part of Justinian Legislation and as such was includedin Harmenopoulos’ Hexabiblos. Therefore, within the frameworkof the dual provisions of the Hexabiblos, both official Law and popular Lawexisted side by side.During the Ottoman occupation this extraordinary Law continued tobe in force on a common Law basis. The above research shows the existence of a primary peculiar legal system•—the agrarian community— which, despite the desastrous repercussions of foreign occupations, survives in an often latent or covert manner within theframework of official State Law, thanks to the stable principles constitutingit.The passage of time and the present international climate open up newpossibilities for a restructuring and incorporation of the communities as autonomouseconomic and cultural units, into the framework of not only theNation-State but also of the E.C.
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