As young articling students years ago, a group of us had a contest to see who could work the most ancient citation in to a bit of paying business, in a manner that was not overly contrived (that is, it was actually a useful cite for some reason). I was the front-runner for a while with a cite mentioning the Magna Carta (in a reference dealing with reform of the laws dealing with financial guardianship), but I lost out … I can’t remember what cite won, but I think it was a cite to the Code of Justinian.
[Cites to the religious texts were disqualified]
Anyone want to play? What’s the most ancient reference you have seen in a case, or used yourself?
Not a lawyer, but this is interesting. I keyed in Justinian Code + Supreme Court; and got this among others;
In the Pennock case (1829) Justice Story attempted to answer this by invoking Sir Edward Coke as an authority on the English Statute of Monopolies (1624).
The best cite I know of (not, alas, anything I had anything to do with) is from our Canadian Supreme Court in a case on punitive damages, Whitten & Pilot Insurance:
I have cited the* Corpus Juris Civilus* a few times and I have read a brief with Code of Ur-Nammu cited.
The earliest case that I have ever personally cited was one from the 14th century, Court of Common Pleas.
Specifically it was these clauses of the Ur-nammu code.
1
[QUOTE=wiki]
8. If a man knocks out the eye of another man, he shall weigh out ½ a mina of silver. (15)
19. If a man has cut off another man’s foot, he is to pay ten shekels. (16)
20. If a man, in the course of a scuffle, smashed the limb of another man with a club, he shall pay one mina of silver. (17)
21. If someone severed the nose of another man with a copper knife, he must pay two-thirds of a mina of silver. (18)
22. If a man knocks out a tooth of another man, he shall pay two shekels of silver. (19)
[/QUOTE]
It was a personal injury case as a result of a car accident. The plaintiff suffered loss of mobility and quality of life. At the trial the Court found for her and granted damages for both heads of loss equally. At appeal the Defendant (more accurately her insurance company) argued against the quantum, saying that precedent was that awards could be quantified for actual specific injury and not for unspecific quality of life issues and that different amounts for different types of injuries.After oral argument, the court allowed some additional written briefs. This cite was in one of the footnotes, to the effect that “we have always had different amounts awarded for different injuries”,see here.
The Appeal was dismissed. With costs. No idea if there was any linkage.