Tradizione giuridica e potere centrale nell’arco dei secoli

Abstract

Living for more than 20 centuries under the domination of the greatest empires of the time is as challenging as the concrete cultural, political, social dealings and constant exchange of values, principles and legal traditions. Such a "socio-anthropological laboratory" has been the Albanian people in its journey to independence and self-determination. Created as a state only in 1912, for more than 22 centuries it has been in a constant confrontation with centuries-old conquests preserving its autochthony with its unique language and in an oral tradition as special as customary law. The latter is merged just like the language of all the cultures with which it was related. It is Roman-Byzantine, Ottoman, Slavic, Bulgarian, etc. To live in a region of clashes of cultures means to receive and give, to be formed and transformed, to live and survive with the goal of survival as a nation, as an authentic feature that today we Albanians seek to call Albania.

This study seeks to reflect the connection that the autochthonous legal tradition has had with the invading central government among the Albanians through the centuries.

Without pretending to be all-encompassing the historical context and the legal context, we will focus on the most important moments of political, social and mainly legal influences that the central, imperial-state government has had in different historical stages over the centuries, focusing our study in the influence that Ottoman domination has had on our legal tradition.