For a better understanding of the concepts and principles related to commercial law, in other words, the study of the history of commercial law introduces us to the basic concepts and principles of these laws. By knowing the history of business and the changes that have occurred in business law over time, we can understand how these rights are formed and evolved. This understanding helps us to better understand the laws and concepts related to business law and to use them more correctly.
Another reason for the necessity of studying the history of business law is to eliminate repeated mistakes. By studying the history of business law, we can avoid repeated mistakes in the laws and concepts related to business. By examining the history, we can learn from previous mistakes and shortcomings in business law and make the necessary corrections. This work can facilitate the improvement and optimization of the rules and concepts of commercial law.
Also, studying the history of business law gives us a clear understanding of social and cultural changes. The history of business law represents social and cultural changes in societies. By studying the history of business law, we can understand the impact of social, cultural, political and economic changes on business law. This understanding helps us to adapt the rules and concepts of business law to the current needs and conditions of societies.
Based on the experiences obtained during different eras, it has been shown that the development of commercial law depends to a great extent on the study of the history of commercial law, and Ibn Amr can contribute to the development of these laws. By studying the past experiences, we can use the mistakes or defects in the rules and concepts of business law and improve them. Also, by recognizing the changes and current needs of society, we can create new rules and concepts in business law to adapt to new developments in the best possible way.
As a result, studying the history of commercial law can help increase our knowledge and understanding of commercial law and also facilitate the improvement and optimization of laws and concepts in this field.
History of commercial law
Some French authors have said that commercial law is the fruit of history, so understanding its provisions requires examining its history. The history of commercial law can be divided into three parts: the ancient period, the medieval period, and the modern period. Now let’s examine each of these three parts:
ancient period
Commercial law undoubtedly begins from the time when commerce came into being, but what is considered the beginning of commercial civilization goes back to a time about two thousand years before Christ, the first documents that have reached us regarding commercial relations. as follows:
Warka Tablets about 2000 BC, Code of Hammurabi King of Babylon about 1700 BC.
Examining these documents shows that at that time, the business community, which constitutes the majority of a society, was familiar with banking laws and laws regarding companies at a basic level, and with the travel of merchants from the Mesopotamia region to the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea, these laws It has found its way to those lands, the areas where maritime rights are mostly used, on the contrary, in Egypt, due to the special importance of agriculture, trade has not prospered much, and as a result, the rights related to it are also poor.
Of course, contrary to what is often said, the Egyptians were not so indifferent to business affairs, because the complex Egyptian script was simplified due to its use in commercial communication, but it is acceptable that there is no trace of the applied commercial rules. It does not exist in ancient Egypt.
There is no trace of the commercial civilization of the Phoenicians, except for the rule of Rhodes, which is attributed to the island of Rhodes, a colony of the Phoenicians, and is still common in maritime trade. According to this rule, whenever it is necessary to throw a part of the property on the deck into the sea in order to save the ship that has had an accident, the owner of the goods that are thrown into the sea has the right to claim the damage caused by throwing his property into the sea from the other owners of the goods. It will fit.
Today, this rule is known as common debris damage, which is part of the maritime laws of countries today. However, it is speculated that many of the rules of commercial law that reached the West through the laws of Greece and Rome, survived anonymously from Phoenician law.
Although the ancient Greeks had a long history in the iodine business, they paid less attention to the rights related to it, on the contrary, what draws attention in the Greek civilization is to deal with fundamental rights and politics. However, their role in creating business rules is not small. Firstly, the consolidation and development of the rule of Rhodes is the work of the Greeks, secondly, they established the so-called Greek maritime loan, which was used later in the Middle Ages in Europe.
Thirdly, because the cities of ancient Greece were governed relatively independently and each had its own political and civil regulations. The merchants who came to these cities from other places and settled there had to combine their special commercial laws with the regulations of the cities and create special courts for merchants, which the medieval merchants held in imitation of them, the market court. These courts are the basis of today’s French courts.
Finally, we should talk about Roman law, which, despite its rules regarding property and obligations, which French law has greatly benefited from, does not have independent business rights. In fact, while at that time there were certain social classes under the title of merchants and bankers and commodity traders, exporters and importers of goods. Business rights are not separate from civil rights, either in terms of nature or in terms of jurisdiction of courts and judicial procedures.
However, some of today’s commercial law rules are rooted in Roman law, including the rule by which the actions of the merchant’s crew and workers are credited to the merchant.
In bankruptcy law, traces of Roman law can be seen, the most important of which is the rule of dividing the merchant’s property among creditors. But it cannot be said that there is a special relationship between the rules of commercial law and Roman law, since the end of Roman civilization, commercial life and exchanges decline and commercial law weakens. Since then, we have to wait for about 1000 years for trade and trade rights to find life again. The beginning of the Middle Ages is the beginning of the re-emergence of trade rig