Roman Law in Legal Education in Poland in the Period of 1944−1949

Abstract

The article is an attempt to establish the role and the meaning of Roman law in Poland in the period of 1944−1949. Polish state was regarded as a satelite state of the Soviet Union. The Polish Workers’ Party was dependent on the communists and it had a “leading role” in the country. The socialist ideology also played the decisive part in an educational system. Socialists were in principle against the study of Roman law and tried to limit his role in educating socialist lawyers – “lawyers of the new type”. They tried to conduct the reform of law studies and partly they made a success of it. “Secondary law schools” was created in this period but there was no Roman law in their school curricula. The Roman law played the major part in university educational system but, as a result of more late reforms, it was eliminated as a autonomous discipline in university education. The period of 1944−1949 was beginning of reforms which they took to it.