| [Visitor (116.162.*.*)]answers [Chinese ] | Time :2023-04-04 |  In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire suffered unprecedented internal and external troubles, and the already crumbling Empire State Building finally perished under the impact of the fierce and barbaric Germanic people. After the fall of Western Rome, the Eastern Roman Empire remained alive and quite prosperous, mainly due to the favorable geographical environment of Eastern Rome. Constantinople (formerly known as Byzantium), the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, is located at the junction of Europe and Asia, strangling the throat of the Black Sea, with developed maritime trade and rapid economic development. Especially during the reign of Justinian in the 6th century, the kingdom was increasingly prosperous. In this case, Justinian had the opportunity to develop a great heirloom code.
The ＜Justinian Code＞ compiled by Justinian (also translated ＜ Encyclopedia of National Law＞ is the first systematic and complete legal code in European history and the basis for the development of law in most European countries.
The basis of the Codex
The Code of Justinian is derived from Roman law. Roman law generally refers to all laws of the entire historical period after the formation of the Roman state in the 6th century BC until the codification of the code by Emperor Justinian in the middle of the 6th century. Servius Gurius in the 6th century BC? Cave about 578 BC ~ 534 BC? The Snow Reform was a symbol of the formation of the Roman state and laws. At the same time, the Roman slave-owning class demanded the establishment of new social norms in order to meet the needs of domination, and Roman slavery laws followed. In 451~450 BC, the "Twelve Bronze Table Law" produced in the struggle of the commoners against the nobility was a great victory for the commoners. At the same time, it is also the first written law in Rome, which is the prototype of Roman law.It summarizes the customary law of the previous period and lays the foundation for the later development of Roman law. Some scholars believe that ＜ Twelve Bronze Tables ＞ was never abolished, and some of its provisions were implemented until the end of Roman history. In the 3rd ~ 1st century AD, Rome expanded its territory through a series of foreign conquest wars, becoming a large empire spanning Europe, Asia and Africa. The main feature of Roman law during this period was the dominance of civil law, also known as civil law, which was an early Roman law, a normative resolution adopted by the citizens' assembly and the senate, and some other customary norms, and its scope of application was limited to Roman citizens.In addition, there is the so-called universal law in the empire, which means the law "common to all peoples", which is also an organic part of Roman law, which is formulated through the judicial activities of the Roman Supreme Magistrate, and is actually "international law" within the scope of Roman rule. The content is mainly to regulate property relations, especially with regard to ownership and contractual relationships. Family, marriage and inheritance rights are still regulated by the Civil Law.Although these laws have been widely used by Germans, Romans, and Italians, the content is still very rudimentary, and it is only a collection of the edicts of the emperors before the present era, and there is not enough depth to adapt to the changes of the times. Even the Code of Theodosius, promulgated at the latest, by the time of Justinian, had many inconsistencies with the needs of the time...
The ambitious Justinian examined these codes and argued that the old ones had fundamental flaws that could not be concealed. For the sake of his imperial inheritance, he wanted to provide people with a code of conduct that would always be adhered to, not by collecting the edicts and reprinting them in a book. This was not a purely legislative enterprise, nor an extension of the religious enterprise, but would be another pillar of his restoration of the empire.
Codex Overview
On February 13, 526, Emperor Justinian issued an edict appointing Tribnius to organize a committee of 10 jurists, chaired by John, the former magistrate of the "Holy Court." The Commission has the power to use all existing information, and may add, delete, or amend it, and then mark these edicts with the name of the emperor, as well as the object and date of implementation, and then classify them according to their content and chronological order. This collection of edicts was promulgated in 529 AD, known as the Code of Justinian. In 534, the Code of Justinian was amended and re-enacted.
The Code of Justinian consists of 12 volumes, divided under subsections, each of which contains excerpts from the edict in chronological order, indicating the name of the emperor who issued the edict and the name of the recipient, and the date at the end of the edict.
After the promulgation of the Code of Justinian, three parts, the ＜General Treatise of Justinian Jurisprudence＞ ＜ Justinian＞ and the ＜New ＞Law of Justinian, were promulgated successively as a continuation of the Code of Justinian.
The General Treatise of Justinian Jurisprudence, also known as the Ladder of Law, was completed at the end of 533. It is divided into 4 volumes, subdivided under the volume, which contains the papers of previous jurists and briefly expounds the principles of law, which is a brief textbook for learning the principles of Roman law.
In 530 AD, Justinian again appointed Tribnius as its chairman, 11 learned and famous jurists and 5 professors selected from the law schools of Belutos and Constantine as commissioners, and jointly collected, sorted out and extracted the works of the famous Roman jurists in various categories, and spent a total of three years compiling the "Collection of Doctrines", also known as the "Compilation of Justinian's Doctrines", which was promulgated and implemented at the end of 533.
In addition, in 565, jurists compiled 168 new edicts issued by Emperor Justinian after the completion of the code, called the New Law of Justinian. Its main content belongs to administrative regulations, and there are also norms on inheritance systems.
The above four parts were collectively known as the Justinian Encyclopedia of Civil Law in the 12th century. Since the Code of Justinian was first codified and is the core of this Encyclopedia of Civil Law, the Code of Justinian is generally used as the code name for this Encyclopedia of Civil Law. Although the Code of Justinian, an important legal document, was compiled after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was processed in the process of compilation according to the situation at the time, so generally speaking, it can reflect the whole picture of Roman law in the heyday of the Roman Empire, that is, the "classical era".
The Code of Justinian clearly declared unlimited imperial power, safeguarded the interests of the church, and consolidated the dominance of slave owners; The code requires that "everyone should abide by the law", otherwise severe sanctions must be imposed in accordance with the law; The code also places special emphasis on the slave being at the mercy of his master and not allowing any resistance, which shows that Justinian's codification of the code was completely consistent in its starting point and destination, and he tried to consolidate imperial power through the systematization of legal norms, and used this code to serve his rule to save slavery.
The Code of Justinian, while retaining the law of slavery, eliminated the part that parents could sell their children into slavery to compensate for their offense to others, affirmed the right of women to inherit inheritance, emphasized the rule of Christian thought, established the principle of the divine right of kings, and detailed all aspects of Christian life, emphasized the policy of forced conversion and repression of infidels, and even established the size and rules of life of churches and monasteries, strengthening the rule over subordinate peasants. The code also used many articles to strictly stipulate that slaves and subordinates must unconditionally obey their masters, and imposed heavy penalties and even the death penalty on those who disobeyed, and it was only because of the resistance and struggle of subordinate peasants that they had to write provisions for the release of slaves,Promotion of the Codex
In the 12~15th century, there was a "revival period" of Roman law in Europe, and many countries successively adopted Roman law. Germany was the most active country in adopting Roman law. In 1459 AD, Maximian I of Germany issued a proclamation "declaring that the trials of the Imperial Court shall be based on common laws and shall be carried out jointly by sixteen judges". At least eight of the judges were doctors of law, and they had to be well-versed in Roman law; The other eight were chosen from the aristocracy who had been privileged by Roman law and had a strong affection for Roman law. Roman law was used in Germany until the end of the 19th century, and the reformulated German Civil Code could not escape the influence of Roman law.
In France, Roman law was initially strictly prohibited, but in the general trend of political and economic development, from the 16th century onwards, Roman law gradually became the authoritative norm for judges to adjudicate cases. The French Civil Code, which Napoleon was proud of, was also based on Roman law, which later became a classic of civil codes in the civil law system.
In England, the aristocracy resisted the adoption of Roman law because they disliked Justinian for giving all the privileges to the emperor, but all this did not prevent Roman law from becoming a common lecture in English law in the 12th century. Although the English legal system is largely derived directly from the "private law" part of the original Germanic law—the principles of contract, wills, trust systems and personal law, maritime law, etc.—and does not accept the form of Roman law, it is still not free from the influence of Roman law.
The impact of the Codex
The Code of Justinian is the world's first complete slave grammar, which systematically collects and organizes all the laws and jurisprudence works from the Roman Republic to Justinian. It marked that Roman law itself had developed to an extremely developed and complete stage, and had a greater impact on the development of jurisprudence and law in European countries in the future.
In addition, the content and legislative techniques of the code were far more detailed than other slavery laws. The concepts and principles it established were characterized by strict wording, precision and clear conclusions, especially the important principles of formal equality of free people within the scope of "private law", the main condition for the validity of contracts with the consent of the parties, and the unrestricted private ownership of property, which laid the foundation for subsequent laws.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the Encyclopedia of Civil Law (i.e., the Encyclopedia of National Law and the Code of Justinian) became the main basis for establishing legal institutions on the European continent. The Roman law system in such countries is said to be in contrast to the common law system in English-speaking countries. No country has copied the Encyclopedia of National Law exactly, incorporating only parts of it into civil law. It is the basis for legal research, training and discourse in many countries in Europe. Because many non-European countries eventually adopted parts of Roman law, the influence of the Encyclopedia was widespread and worldwide. Its main influence is concentrated in civil law systems, in particular the French Civil Code and the German Civil Code. |
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