NORMANDY, CUSTOMARY LAW OF. Previous to the first Revolution the several provinces into which France was divided were chiefly governed by a system of laws which, arising originally from local usages, became in after time embodied in a code which obtained the sanction of the sovereign, and became the established law of the province. These codes were styled customs, coutumes, and have been largely and learnedly commented upon by various jurists of the period, whose commentaries were often received as law. The customary of Normandy ranks among the most ancient of these customaries. According to it, laws, customs, and usages, were regulations of a very different authority : the laws were enacted by the sovereign, reduced to writing, and registered by the exchequer, denominated the parliament of Rouen ; customs originated with the people, and in time were compiled and reduced to writing by the supreme authority. Hence the difference between tat, vs, and coutume, as understood in the ancient provinces of France. By /oi was understood the royal ordinances and Roman law ; by coutumes, or customs, those regulations which had been compiled and received the sanction of the sovereign ; by us or usage, such regulations as had not been reduced to writing. Normandy, both as an independent state, and after its annexation to the crown of France, may be said to have had three distinct codes ; le grand coutumier, or ancient customary ; la charte aux Northands, or Norman charter ; and the modern custom. The ancient and modern custom related more particularly to property, &c ; to charts aux Normuncls to the political liberty of the subject. The Norman charter was granted by Louis X., its principal object being to restrain the kings of France from imposing too heavy burdens on their Norman subjects. This charter was confirmed six times from its promulgation to the reformation of the customary by Henry III., which affords a fair presumption that it had been often violated. The customs of Normandy were first reduced into writing by a private hand in the reign of Louis IX., about the year 1229, which corresponds with 14 Henry III. of England. Being subjected to examination under Charles IX., many of its reforms were sanctioned by the high authority of the Chancellor l'Hopital, and the modern reform dates from 1585, under Henry III. This custom was known throughout France by the appellation of la sage arutume. The number of provincial customs of France before the Revolution were reckoned at eighty, and its local usages at nearly three hundred. In Normandy there were no less than twenty-two different modes of devising patrimonial estates, corresponding to the number of vicomtds or districts of which the province was composed.
L'Ancien Coutumier is divided into 125 chapters, nearly two-thirds of which are devoted to regulate the duties of the judicial officers, the proceedings in the different courts, and the respective rights and obli gations of the kings of France, the dukes of Normandy, the feudal lords and people. The transmission of property by wills and inheritance,
which occupies so large a portion of modern law and of the reformed Norman law in the 16th century forms a very small portion of the Ancsen Gout under.
The modern or reformed Coutumier de Normandie is divided into 24 chapters, which are subdivided into 622 articles. The modern G'outunte was reformed at Rouen on 1st July, 1585, by commissioners appointed by Henry III. of France with the concurrence of the pro vincial authorities known as les yens des trois etats, or three orders representing the nobility, clergy, and people.
Among the peculiar customs of Normandy was la clameur de Haro, which custom still prevails in the Channel Islands, where the Norman ancient customary is the principal law ; and may be denominated a call upon the supreme authority for justice, " appellatio ad principem ad opera in lite ferendam." The term is considered to be derived from Duke Rollo, or as the name is variously spelt, Raoul, Roul, and Ron (Du Moulin's Hist. de Normandie,' lib. i. c. 9, and lib. vii. c. 20), " Ham " being a corruption of the cry Hal, or Ha Rou, by which this prince, who was remarkable for his justice, is said to have been invoked. It is thus practised in the Channel Islands. When an individual con siders that another is infringing upon his right of property, he, in the presence of two witnesses, protests against the proceedings, and, crying out three times " Haro," summons the trespasser to desist. He then applies to the judicial authorities, declaring what he has done, and proceeds to the register, or record office, where note is taken of the Particular circumstances of the case ; he afterwards brings an action against the trespasser. If he neglect to do so, then the person against whom the " Haro" was cried may bring his action against him who cried it, and oblige him, if he cannot justify, his proceedings, to desist and submit to the judgment of the court. Upon the action of either of the parties the decision is generally referred to what is termed une rue de justice, or an examination by the court of all the circum stances on the spot itself. The party condemned is subjected to a small fine and pays all costs ; in addition to which be was formerly punished by what was termed um regard de chateau, that is, twenty four hours' imprisonment ; the imploring the aid of the prince without cause and the invasion of another's possession being accounted equally criminal. In ancient Normandy parties resorted to the clameur de Haro, in cases of assault and battery, but that part of the custom has never prevailed in the Channel Islands.