Lex posterior derogat priori, lex specialis derogat generali Jalons pour une histoire des conflits de normes centrée sur ces deux solutions concurrentes.

Lex posterior derogat priori, lex specialis derogat generali, Guidelines for a history of conflicting norms with a focus on these two competing solutions. -- The two Latin maxims, Lex posterior derogat priori and Lex specialis derogat generali, sometimes presented as evidentially logical, have a complex history and a delicate relationship (whereas the latter can contradict the former). They take their origins in the Digest, but in rather paradoxical forms: Lex posterior is coming from a text written in Greek by Modestinus, lex generalis is induced from a general regula exposed by Papinianus. How have these two ways of resolving the problem of conflicting norms emerged in Roman law? How have they been quoted and explained in canon and in civil law during the Middle Ages? How have they been used by sovereigns and in which scope do they serve the foundations of modern States? This paper tries to answer these questions by analyzing texts where the two maxims are mentioned and proposes to treat this subject as a significant chapter of the history of the sources of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]