This thesis uses the language of adultery to examine the relationship between law and society in ancient Rome. In particular, questions will be asked about the ways in which this exchange functioned – do social norms determine law or vice versa? To begin, the lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis will be contextualised within Augustus’ wider programme of moral reform, and definitions will be given for adulterium and stuprum, the terms which the law used to classify the actions it penalised. The thesis will use these two terms as a lens through which to investigate changes in attitudes to adultery following the introduction of the lex Iulia. A survey of the use of adulterium and stuprum, including their derivatives and the borrowed Greek form moechus, will be made within Latin literature from the 2nd century BC until the 2nd century AD. It will be argued that changes in the use and meaning of the terms following the introduction of the lex Iulia are indicative of changes in attitudes to adultery within the Roman male elite. This in turn will show that law can and does impact on society and it can be used as a positive force to change society’s conception of a given behaviour. Chapter two looks closely at the punishment of adultery in the republic in order to provide a framework through which to understand the lex Iulia as an innovative piece of legislation. The provisions of the law will then be recreated using the juristic texts of the sixth century legal compilations and the chapter will conclude by looking at the attempts to revive the lex Iulia by later emperors and the changes that were made to the law. The focus of chapters three and four is the use of the terms adulterium and stuprum in prose and verse literature. A selection of authors has been chosen to provide a sample that covers the chronological period in question and to include a wide range of genres. It will be shown that in the republic stuprum was the more frequent term as it could be used to refer to sexual transgression in general, including adultery. However, following the introduction of the adultery law, adulterium is found with much greater frequency and its use reflects the new legal definition of adultery and the need to qualify accusations in terms of the law. Moreover, whereas previously stuprum had been conceived of as the more damaging and disgraceful concept, adulterium became to be of greater concern. The legal significance which the lex Iulia gave to adultery and the terms used to describe it are also evident. Overall, it is the aim of this thesis to show how the introduction of the lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis shaped and altered attitudes to adultery within Roman society. Nevertheless, the validity of using law to control morality continued to be questioned by some of the authors studied and there were negative effects on ideas of marital fidelity and sexual morality as a result of the law.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (School of Criminology) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

The principle of judicial independence has been described in the case of Law Society of Lesotho v The Prime Minister and Another, as requiring judicial officers to be free to make their decisions without depending on the influence of another or any external pressure. The judiciary only owes its loyalty to the constitution and the law in the way it dispenses with justice. One of the requirements of the principle of judicial independence is appointing judicial officers in an open and transparent manner.2 Those appointed should be men and women of dignity and integrity who are able to hold the executive, the powerful, the rich and the poor accountable if they contravene the prescription of the law.3 / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2010. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Christopher Mbazira and Dr. Winfred Tarinyeba of the Faculty of Law, University of Makerere, Uganda. 2010. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This thesis identifies the financial incentives of litigants and lawyers to behave in certain ways in relation to civil litigation files. By identifying such incentives, this thesis raises questions about the extent to which substantive and procedural private law is capable of being influenced by them. Specifically, this thesis argues that: lawyers have a lawmaking function within the private law system; lawyers have financial incentives distinct from those of their clients; and the costs of retaining lawyers produce observable incentives and effects on the outcomes of civil litigation matters. In addition to the many theoretical materials cited, empirical data have been cited from research observing the legal profession in North America and elsewhere. This thesis argues that external influences--such as financial incentives for non-parties--can affect the way private law applies and develops. This thesis also identifies general regulatory strategies that might limit the influence of external factors on private law.