Education and Research inRoman Law and Legal History inBelgium and the Netherlands By Dirk van den Auweele and Randall Lesafeer Over the last two decades the importance of Roman law and legal history in the curricula of Belgian and Dutch university law schools has severely dedined. This evolvement is part of a more general loss of interest in historicy and culture throughout most of the educational system. In the long run this could threaten the research in these domains too, as most of the scientific research activities are done by university scholars or are somehow connected with the universities. Like in other European countries, among which the Netherlands have taken a leading role, the education at university law schools in Belgiumover recent years has increasingly evolved to mere professional training. It has become economically compelling to form technicians of law, whereas the vocation of an university is to mould scientists in search of truth. Since the 1980’s and even more rapidly since 1990 the accent on courses of history, philosophy and other non-juridical disciplines has diminished. Owing to this, the consciousness of the role of the law and the responsibility of the jurist in society can not but increasingly fail to a newgeneration of students. This evolution can certainly not count on the overall approval of the academic world. This makes it all the more surprising that is has not been more seriously contested. Arguments in favour of historical, philosophical and other lectures out of the non-juridical human and social sciences are not hard to come quickly changing society and lawsystemdemand for lawyers with a broad intellectual background and a high flexibility. The internationalisation of economy and of every day life not only makes it more important to master different foreign languages, but also requires jurists to be able and willing to involve themselves with other juridical and social cultures. These and other arguments have over the last fewyears surfaced fromtime to time in all kinds of speeches and addresses at academic and other meetings. After the dramatic 1996 events in Belgian in connection with the kidnapping and murdering of several children which brought about - at least in the media — by. The
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