A Comparative Study of Albanian Customary Law with the Code of the West and the Common Law of England Lex Scripta vs. Lex Non Scripta

Abstract

In this study we are going to compare some of the most important aspects of social life among the three customary laws. Customs that are going to be mentioned and compared here are: family, hospitality and honor, blood feud, and the solemn oath (spoken word), etc. Also, the differences between unwritten and written laws communicated from the former ages are going to be explained, extensively. The purpose of this study was to identify if there is a match among the three codes (canons), and to determine the main differences that exist among the selected customs taken for our study. These canons were bodies of customary law and they were either written (lex scripta) or unwritten (lex non scripta). For centuries, they had existed in an unwritten form, and thus it is impossible to be too definite about their origins. For example, Kanun of Lek Dukagjini among Albanians written by Shtjefën Gjeçovi, a Franciscan priest, who began collecting the works that first appeared in printed form in 1913, and the completed Kanun was published in 1931 after his death. Then, The History of the Common Law of England among English written by Sir Matthew Hale in 1739. And, the Code of the West which was first chronicled by the famous western writers like Ned Buntline, Prentis Ingraham, Owen Wister, Max Brand and Zane Grey. The latter states in his 1934 novel The Code of the West that no ‘written’ code ever actually existed. Lack of written law made it necessary for Grey to frame some of his own, thus developing a rule of behavior which became known as the ‘Code of the West.’ Keywords: customary law, Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, Code of the West, Common Law of England, Shtjefën Gjeçovi, Sir Matthew Hale, Zane Grey, family, hospitality and honor, blood feud, and the solemn oath, etc.