Dell'attualità del Digest del 1808: dal passato una "voce presente" fra le fonti del diritto Louisianian?

This essay aims to shed light on the first private law codification enacted in 1808, the Digest of the Civil Laws now in force in the Territory of Orleans with alterations and amendments adapted to its present system of government, discussing John Cairns’ research on its cultural roots. As reported by Cairns, the Digest is moulded on the French civil code. The theoretical framework underlying his book is Alan Watson’s theory of legal transplants, according to which a set of rules may be transplanted in an environment showing significant differences from the original one. The idea of autonomy of law lies at the heart of Watson’s theory. Its use as to the Louisianian Digest is challenged in this essay. Emphasis is placed on the major distinction – acknowledged in the Book I – among freemen and slaves (widely accepted in Louisiana society of that time), which infringes the principle of equality having a fundamental value in the French civil code. The “ law-as-legal-rules” approach may be misleading if proper attention is not paid to the social context.