Roman law formed the basis of civil law used today in continental Europe and throughout Latin America. The common law, the other important legal body used in the world, developed in British courts in the Middle Ages and later spread to the United States and Commonwealth member states. The Byzantine emperor Justinian I gained lasting fame through his judicial reforms, especially through the total revision of the entire Roman law, which had not been attempted before. There were three codices of imperial laws and other individual laws, many of which were contradictory or obsolete. The entire legislature of Justinian is now known as the Corpus juris civilis. Code of Justinian, Codex Justinianus, formerly Corpus Juris Civilis (“Corpus of Civil Law”), collections of laws and legal interpretations developed under the patronage of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I from 529 to 565 CE. Strictly speaking, the works were not a new code. On the contrary, Justinian`s legal committees essentially provided two reference works containing collections of past laws and extracts from the opinions of the great Roman jurists. There was also a basic overview of the Law and a collection of Justinian`s new laws.
The Justinian Codex consists of four books: (1) Codex Constitutionum, (2) Digesta, . (100 out of 379 words) All three parts, even the manual, had the force of law. Together, they should be the sole source of law; Any reference to any other source, including the original texts from which the codex and digesta had been taken, was prohibited. Nevertheless, Justinian was forced to enact other laws, which are now counted as the fourth part of the corpus, the Novellae Constitutiones. Unlike the rest of the Corpus, the news appeared in Greek, the common language of the Eastern Empire. Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, he sought to revive the greatness of the empire and recover the lost western half of the historic Roman Empire; It has also promulgated important pieces of legislation. Although the Code of Justinian is not a new legal code per se, it has rationalized hundreds of years of existing Roman laws.
Contradictions and conflicts have been eliminated and all existing laws not contained therein have been repealed. Later laws, written by Justinian himself, were compiled in the Novellae Constitutiones Post Codicem. The corpus forms the basis of Latin jurisprudence (including canon law) and provides historians with valuable insight into the concerns and activities of the later Roman Empire. As a compendium, it brings together the many sources in which laws and other rules have been expressed or published (ordinary laws, senatorial consultations, imperial decrees, case law, and opinions and interpretations of jurists). It formed the basis of later Byzantine law, as expressed in the Basilica of Basil I and Leo VI.dem of the Magi. The only western province where the Justinian Codex was introduced was Italy, from where it passed to Western Europe in the 12th century and became the basis of many European legal systems. He eventually went to Eastern Europe, where he appeared in Slavic editions, and he also went to Russia. Many of the laws contained in the Codex were intended to regulate the practice of religion, contained numerous provisions that served to secure the status of Christianity as the state religion of the empire, to unite church and state, and to make anyone who was not affiliated with the Christian church a non-citizen. It also contained laws prohibiting certain pagan practices; For example, anyone present with a pagan victim can be charged with murder. Other laws, some influenced by his wife Theodora, include those designed to protect prostitutes from exploitation and women from prostitution.
The rapists were treated harshly. In addition, according to its policy, women accused of serious crimes should be kept by other women to prevent sexual abuse; If a woman is a widow, her dowry must be returned to her; And a husband could not incur large debts without his wife giving him her consent twice. It was not commonly used in the early Middle Ages. After the early Middle Ages, interest in her was revived. It was “received” or imitated as a private right, and its public law content was dismantled for the arguments of secular and ecclesiastical authorities. Resurrected Roman law, in turn, became the basis of law in all civil jurisdictions. The provisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis have also influenced the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church; It has been said that ecclesia vivit lege romana – the Church lives according to Roman law. Its influence on common law legal systems has been much less, although some basic concepts of the corpus have survived through Norman law – such as the contrast, particularly in institutions, between “law” (status) and custom.
The Corpus continues to have a major influence on international law. Its four parts thus form the founding documents of the Western legal tradition. Justinian preserved the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire despite repeated invasions by the Persians. He also fought victorious wars against the Vandals and Goths, conquered the Vandal Empire in North Africa, and briefly restored Roman rule in Italy. The work was directed by Tribonian, an official of Justinian`s court. His team was allowed to edit what they contained. The extent to which they made changes is not known and cannot be known in its essence, as most of the originals have not been preserved. The text was written and distributed almost exclusively in Latin, which was still the official language of the government of the Byzantine Empire in 529-534, while the predominant language of merchants, peasants, sailors and other citizens was Greek.
