Quod Omnes Tangit: Remarks on Jurgen Habermas’s Legal Theory

Authors

Niklas Luhmann, Bielefeld University

Abstract

Quod omnes tangit, omnibus tractari et approbari debet. The Middle Ages found this rule in Roman law. It had to do with the circumstance of a plurality of legal guardians over the same ward. In the typical case, one guardian's approval was legally sufficient authorization in legal transactions. Since every other rule had seriously damaged business dealings, the business partner's confidence had to be protected. On the other hand, this consideration-that one guardian's approval is legally sufficient authorization for an emancipation-could not have led to a fully realized emancipation of a ward. Nor could it have led to the elimination of the guardianship of all the guardians. For the relations between the guardians the rule was: what concerns everyone (quod omnes tangit) requires their agreement.

Keywords

Canon Law, Globalization, Foreign Affairs, Jurisprudence, Research

Disciplines

Jurisprudence | Law

Recommended Citation

Niklas Luhmann, Quod Omnes Tangit: Remarks on Jurgen Habermas’s Legal Theory, 17 Cardozo L. Rev. 883 (1996).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/clr/vol17/iss4/7