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Project

Depositum Irregulare and Similar Types of Deposit Contracts in Roman Law and in Later Historical Development

The objective of this thesis is to give a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the irregular deposit as well as some other types of deposit of fungibles, namely the aggregate deposit (reguläres Summendepot) and the mingled deposit (Sammeldepot). Economic aspect of the said institutions are also going to be considered. The irregular deposit existed already in Roman law as we may assert from the texts contained in the Digest and Code of Justinian. However, not only are some of these texts in mutual conflict, some are even outright internally contradictory. Accordingly, the author shall try to explain these contradictions and discover how the Romans dealt with the deposit of fungibles in classical as well later periods of Romal law. The glossators developed their own doctrine of depositum irregulare which was based on Roman legal texts, but also influenced by the reality of their day. This evolution was then continued by the commentators and other civilist in medieval and early modern period. At the same time the irregular deposit and banking in general was thoroughly studied by the scholars of the famed School of Salamanca. The development also continued in later ages. In the German legal science of the 19th century multiple concepts of the institution of depositum irregulare appeared, some of which can be found even in today’s law.

Date:20 May 2020 →  Today
Keywords:Roman law, Irregular Deposit, Deposit of Fungibles, Reception of Roman law, Full-reserve banking, Fractional-reserve banking
Disciplines:Roman law
Project type:PhD project