„Legal transplants,” a term coined by Alan Watson in his well-known book Legal Transplants: An Approach to Comparative Law, have become an important matter of research interest in the 1970s, as a consequence the publication of A.Watson. Even if we can agree that it is possible to trace the analysis as far back as to 18th century, when Montesquieu described similarities in law as a pure coincidence, I would be rather doubtful if this were to be perceived asiusgentium, described in Justinian’s Institutions, as some kind of theoretical reflection in this field, as this has been proposed by some modern researchers. But the phenomenon itself seems to be a deeply rooted, inevitable element of legal development. Despised by some theorist, mostly by Carl von Savigny’s historical school of jurisprudence and their intellectual heirs, the idea of legal transplants was described by Watson himself as „borrowing [that has been] the most fruitful source of legal change.”
Keywords: legal transplants, Watson, adoption of EU law, Croatia
