Department of Legal History

In the integrated Master’s program in Law, two compulsory courses are offered in the first year: Roman Law and Legal History. Elective courses include Ius Commune and the European Legal Tradition, History of Criminal Law, History of English Law, and Law and Language in the European Tradition, which alternates with Law, Image, and Film. In the two-tier Law program, electives include Selected Topics in the History of Criminal Law and Selected Topics in the History of English Law at the undergraduate level, and Law and Language in the European Tradition and Ius Commune: Roman Law and the European Legal Tradition at the graduate level. Under the Erasmus program, courses on Roman Law and Slovene Legal History are taught in English. Faculty members also contribute to the course Foreign Legal Terminology – German.

In the doctoral program, students can choose courses such as Continuity and Reception of Roman Law, Overview of Roman Criminal Law, Development of the Roman State and Foundations of Roman Public Law, Roman Property Law in Relation to Modern Law, Reading Glossators’ and Postglossators’ Works, Legal Elements in Roman Literary and Philosophical Texts, Analysis of Excerpts from Roman Legal Texts, Ancient Oriental Laws, Ancient Greek Law, Theory and Methods of Legal History, European Legal History, and Legal History of a Specific Period.

For several years, the department has also offered students the opportunity to participate in the European academic environment through involvement in the transnational learning community "Legal History" as part of the European university alliance EUTOPIA.

Since the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana was founded on the Austrian model, the study program was originally divided into two parts. The first part was introductory and ended with a state exam in legal history after the third semester. Subjects included Roman law, ecclesiastical law, the historical development of public and private law, and the legal history of the Southern Slavs. Roman law was taught by civil law professors Anton Skumovič (Institutes of Roman Law) and Gregor Krek (Pandect Law). Ecclesiastical law was taught by Rado Kušej, the historical development of public law by Janko Polec, and the legal history of the Southern Slavs by Mihail Jasinski.

In 1927, Viktor Korošec, who was also the first graduate of the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, became an associate professor of Roman law. Mihail Jasinski taught until 1933, after which the teaching of legal history was taken over by criminal law professor Metod Dolenc, joined by Josip Žontar in 1940. A general university regulation from 1931 set the number and names of professorships (initially called "chairs," later "departments"), which generally corresponded to the subjects taught at the time.

Before World War II, these professors authored several significant works for their subjects. Notable examples include Kušej’s Ecclesiastical Law of the Catholic Church, with Special Reference to the Situation in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1927), Dolenc’s Legal History of Slovenian Territory (1935), and Krek-Korošec’s History and System of Roman Private Law (1936, 1937, and 1941). During this period, Korošec also became recognized as one of the leading experts in cuneiform law, particularly with his work Hittite State Treaties (1931), and later with his comprehensive review of cuneiform laws (Keilschriftrechte). When the Academy of Sciences and Arts was established, more than half of its regular members in the legal field were legal historians (Dolenc, Krek, Kušej, Polec).

During World War II, several professors passed away (Dolenc, Krek, Kušej), while Polec and Žontar were removed from the Faculty by the communist authorities after the war for political reasons. They were employed at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU), with Polec leading the Terminology Section and Žontar serving as an honorary collaborator in economic history. The post-war period brought changes in the names of courses. Roman law remained, but legal history, following the Russian model, became the History of the State and Law, which served as an introduction to constitutional law. A new course, History of Popular Power, was introduced and taught by constitutional law professor Makso Šnuderl. In the 1970s, the course History of the State and Law reverted to Legal History, unlike most other law faculties in Yugoslavia, which maintained two separate legal history courses: General History of the State and Law and National Legal Histories. In 1952, Jaromir Beran became a lecturer in legal history. At this time, academic departments were established as the main drivers of legal scholarship, including the Department of Legal History. For many years, it had only two teachers, supported by external collaborators, particularly for exams and tutorials. In legal history, this was Sergij Vilfan, who became a full professor in 1971, while Latin for lawyers was taught by Miloš Rybář. For many years, Ciril Kržišnik, a Byzantinologist, examined students in Roman law, led revision classes, and later conducted tutorials until 1971. He had been active at the Faculty during the war but was forced to leave for political reasons afterwards. Vilfan wrote Legal History of Slovenes in 1961 before joining the Faculty, while he was still the director of the Ljubljana City Archives. During his time at the Faculty, he published numerous works, including chapters in The History of Agrarian Sectors (1980). Shortly before he died in 1996, he completed his views on the concept and nature of Slovenian law in his book Historical Legal Formation and the Slovenes. Professors Korošec and Vilfan enjoyed international recognition as legal scholars, with few others at the Faculty matching their stature. Both were full members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and recipients of the highest national awards for scientific achievements.

Emeritus Professor Dr. Janez Kranjc joined the Faculty as an assistant in 1971 and retired in 2018, marking the beginning of a generational shift. He was the first teacher from the department to be educated after World War II and proved to be a worthy successor to his mentors, authoring works such as Examples from Roman Law (1991), Latin Legal Maxims (1994), and the monograph Roman Law (2010). After retirement, he became an associate member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Professor Dr. Vladimir Simič began as an assistant in 1975 and remained a lecturer in legal history until his retirement in 2016. His notable contributions include studies on the Ptuj Statute, ancient Greek law, and biographical and encyclopaedic entries, which have helped establish legal history as a scientific discipline in Slovenia and spread its findings to the broader public.

The current holder of the Roman Law course, Professor Dr. Marko Kambič, joined the Faculty in 1989, while Associate Professor Dr. Katja Škrubej, who teaches Legal History, began in 1995. The latest generation of department members includes Assistant Vid Žepič, who started leading tutorials in Roman Law and Foreign Legal Terminology – German in 2020, and Assistant Svit Komel, a young researcher who joined in 2021.

Katja Škrubej, PhD, Associate Professor
Vid Žepič, PhD, Assistant Professor
Svit Komel, Master of Law, MPhil
Acad. Janez Kranjc, PhD, Professor Emeritus
Vladimir Simič, PhD, Associate Professor