Značaj rimskog prava u razvoju pravne kulture u Crnoj Gori
The Importance of Roman Law in the Development of Legal Culture in Montenegro

Summary/Abstract: The idea and aim of this work arise from the fact that Montenegrin society, like many others, in the process of aligning its laws with those of the European Union and adopting the European model of cultural integration (which today invariably carries a monetary counterpart), is losing some of the most significant characteristics of its own legal culture. Montenegrin legal culture is the product of society’s reaction to the historical conditions in which it found itself, often viewing the concept of freedom as an inviolable category. By studying the history and development of the regulation of social relations, primarily through customary law, in the territory of present-day Montenegro from Roman times to the present, one can identify numerous recurring patterns throughout different epochs, from which lessons for the future can be drawn. The essence of the positive actions of legal entities in legal relationships was expressed in Roman law through numerous principles, which, in their evolution, reached the level of general legal principles and a form of legal values. On these foundations, European civilization was built, yet contemporary Europe is increasingly distant from its origins 67 — from itself. The Roman influence on Montenegro’s legal culture can be clearly traced through the content of medieval statutes from coastal towns, which stand as witnesses to the successful intertwining of „external influences,” or the influence of foreign law, with the existing, deeply rooted system of customary regulation of social relations. Many customs in Montenegro, whose enduring nature was secured through written documentation by Valtazar Bogišić, bear witness to the persistence of specific regulations that, while rooted locally, find their place within the European framework and have their origin in Roman tradition. Based on legal patterns that once applied to the whole, Montenegrin society in the modern era should address the political and legal dilemmas that increasingly trouble it year after year. Political culture cannot serve as the foundation for lasting cultural unity, but Montenegro’s legal culture is, as we shall see, undoubtedly a testament to that unity

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