October 29, 2009

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The Law of Navarre

Ms. Mercedes Galán Lorda.
University of Navarra

The object of the exhibition is Navarre's own law, undoubtedly its most characteristic sign of identity, traditionally identified with the regional law or the fueros, which are none other than the set of rules governing the life of a community, in this case, the community of Navarre.

The exhibition begins with a section dedicated to the high school of Lawyers, in which some historical texts related to lawyers and the process of constitution of the high school of Lawyers in Pamplona are exposed, as well as objects related to the legal profession (titles for the practice of law, photographs of Deans of Colleges, medals, badges).

The following is the trajectory of Navarre's law from its origins to the present day. Navarre, from the time it was constituted as a kingdom, enjoyed its own specific law, its own regime, which has been partially preserved up to the present day. However, this regime was not initially unitary, but rather, depending on the social group or the locality to which one belonged, one enjoyed a different right. From the 13th century onwards, Navarrese law tended to unify.

The exhibition is structured in four stages, determined by the peculiar status of the Navarre territory at each historical moment: the law of an independent kingdom; the law of a kingdom linked to the Crown of Castile; the law of a foral province; and the law of a Foral Community.

The first stage coincides with the Age average. Some local charters are presented, highlighting the concession of the regional law of Jaca to the residents of the burgh of San Saturnino de Pamplona by Alfonso the Battler in 1129, or a 13th century copy of the regional law of Estella. It is made reference letter to the ceremonial of the royal oath, gathered in the General regional law of Navarre of the XIII century, of which they are sample expressive an engraving of the XVII century relative to the royal uprising, the Evangeliary of Roncesvalles or the Book of Armory of the Kingdom of Navarre. Also on display are the Royal Decree establishing the Chamber of Comptos in 1365, or documents relating to the Royal committee and the High Court.
 

regional law General of Estella. XIII Century 

The second stage refers to the conquest of Navarre in 1512 and its subsequent incorporation into Castile in 1515, events that determine the dynastic change, so that from now on the kings of Navarre will be Castilian. However, Navarre maintained its status as a Kingdom, which is manifested in the fact that it retained its own Cortes and institutions and its own laws. On display are the opinion presented by advisor, Palacios Rubios, to Ferdinand the Catholic to justify the conquest; the first book of conference proceedings of Cortes of this stage; a copy of the regional law Reduced; the maces and voting urns of the Cortes; or the official compilations of the laws elaborated by the Cortes of Navarre.
The third stage covers the 19th century, which began with constitutionalism, the tendency towards legal unity and the consequent clash with the status of kingdom that Navarre retained. Documents that allude to the "constitution of Navarre" are exhibited, in defense of its own regime and others that show the end of the Navarre institutions: the conference proceedings of the last Cortes of the Kingdom of 1828-29, the cessation of the Chamber of Comptos and other institutions of the Kingdom that will be substituted by the new constitutional institutions, the transcript of installation of the Audiencia of Pamplona in 1836, or documents relative to the process of elaboration of the Ley Paccionada of 1841. The century concludes with the movement opposed to the extension of the state tax system to Navarre, called La Gamazada, so that the exhibition collects the book of signatures graduate Protesta Foral and the project of Monumento a los Fueros del Paseo de Sarasate.

Finally, in reference letter to the 20th century, documents related to two movements in defense of the specialties that Navarre preserved are exposed: the local administration, which is affected by the adaptation of the Municipal Statute of Calvo Sotelo of 1924; and the fiscal regime, on the occasion of the first economic agreement of the 20th century between Navarre and the State, in 1927. 

The transition to the democratic system is represented by the copy of the Spanish Constitution, property of the Parliament of Navarre, opened in its first additional provision, according to which the historical rights of the foral territories are protected and respected; and the first book of conference proceedings of the Foral Parliament of Navarre. 

The exhibition concludes with the texts that are an expression of the peculiar regime that Navarre currently enjoys: the regional law Nuevo or Compilación del Civil Law Foral de Navarra as regards private law, and the Amejoramiento del regional law of 1982, as regards public law.

Some final panels show the outline of the institutions and the law of Navarre in each of the four stages mentioned above.

Gospels of Roncesvalles. Second quarter of the 13th century