Abstract

The Roman-Italian law of the late antiquity and of the Middle Ages (ius commune) has - in addition to the canon law (ius canonicum) - repeatedly been referred to as the legal foundations of Europe. Both have risen to prominence mainly with respect to private law. One should, however, be much more conscious about the fact, that there is also a large inventory of a common European public law (ius commune publicum). It comprises the tradition of the Aristotelian Politics, the idea of the «leges fundamentales» and the later constitutions, the division of powers, fundamental rights, federalism and the judicial control of public authority. If we truly strive for the «constitutionalization of Europe», we have to bear this in our minds and put it into practice.