Commitments) in treaties, also between celtic and Germanic communities, is also well documented in historical evidence. [49] While we have no direct evidence of this, it is very likely that legal proceedings were only initiated if there was an applicant, either the injured party or a representative who was almost certainly a relative of the injured party. The procedure will probably have been initiated by a complaint addressed to the one who was considered responsible for the maintenance of justice, who could be a druid, in some late Gallic policies, an official or perhaps a noble boss of the aggrieved party or the author, or perhaps the author himself had to be addressed. It is very likely that if the author does not voluntarily submit to settle the dispute before the court, he could be seized by the plaintiff. Although we have no direct evidence of the latter, it seems quite likely, as the practice is well attested in Irish and Welsh law of the early Middle Ages[65] with related terminology,[66] but also in early Germanic laws,[67] and even in early Roman law. [68] Although we cannot date or situate the origin of the various principles that make up Celtic laws in later prehistory (some of them probably from great antiquity, even when they became part of Celtic laws, others may not have developed before the Iron Age), once we find them expressed in Celtic legal terminology, we can reasonably call them “Celtic laws.” This development of Celtic legal terminology seems to have taken place at a time in late prehistory, with the conventional date of around 1000 BC. J.-C. , although it may be several centuries away. The regulation of contractual relations is one of the most important elements of any legal system, especially in societies where there is no strong central state that applies codified law. As for the Celtic societies of late prehistory, all the evidence points to such a lack of strong central state control and enforcement of legal claims largely based on parents. [43] The regulation of contractual relations was therefore most probably the most essential element of all early Celtic laws.
The law is not static; It is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the society that regulates it. However, this does not necessarily mean that the principles on which these laws are based will change at the same rate. As far as Celtic laws are concerned, it seems that the guiding principles of law have remained quite similar over a longer period of time, from the end of prehistory to the Middle Ages. Of course, this does not imply a complete co-identity of legal systems between the communities of late prehistoric Gaul and those of early Medieval Ireland. Rather, it is the result of similar social, political and economic demands of societies subject to these laws, which seem to be sufficiently similar in space and time in this rather vast field, which has made fundamental changes in the principles of law superfluous. The other very important legal aspect associated with kinship relationships is sexual union and reproduction. Inheritance seems to have been passed on mainly on the paternal side,[23] therefore, the clarification of the relationships between the partners, who were probably often members of different kinship groups, as well as their children must have been quite essential. The surprisingly narrow parallels between the Irish and Welsh laws of the early Middle Ages concerning sexual unions[24] and the similarity between the more prestigious union described therein and Gallic marriage as described by Caesar[25] suggest that the treatment of various sexual unions was quite similar in much of Western Europe from late prehistory to the Middle Ages. As with crime and punishment, we have little direct evidence of later history when it comes to legal proceedings. Caesar claims that the Druids are the judges of all kinds of disputes, both criminal and civil. [61] As for the latter, the examples cited by Caesar are disputes over heredity and limitations, suggesting that such conflicts were considered particularly important by his sources.
The fact that the Druids were moral philosophers is also known from other historical sources such as Strabo,[64] which could indicate that at least some of the Druids were trained as professional lawyers. Finally, there are archaeological sources that abound but are almost impossible to interpret in terms of possible legal meanings.
