Latin American Law: A History of Private Law and Institutions in Spanish America

Abstract

This book offers the first comprehensive introduction in either English or Spanish to private law in Spanish Latin America from the colonial period to the present. After a brief discussion of pre-Spanish indigenous law, M. C. Mirow organizes the book into three substantial sections that describe private law and legal institutions in the colonial period, the independence era and nineteenth century, and the twentieth century. Each section begins with an introduction to the nature and function of private law during the period and discusses such topics as legal education and lawyers, legal sources, courts, land, inheritance, commercial law, family law, and personal status. Each section also presents themes of special interest during its respective time period, including slavery, Indian status, codification, land reform, and development and globalization. As the first substantive treatment of Latin American law from colonial times to the present, this book establishes a way to define and structure the field. It also underscores the importance of private law and legal institutions in the creation and control of colonies and nations and provides a basis for understanding the place of law in modern political change.