What was Justinian's codification of laws?

Answer 1

The Corpus Juris Civilis(Body of Civil Law), which was also dubbed the Justinian Code was a compendium of Roman civil law which was commissioned by the emperor Justinian I (or the Great, reigned 527-565). A first edition was published in 529 and a second one in 534. Its rediscovery in the 10th century led to the spread of the influence of Roman civil law through Europe

This work was forgotten after the fall of the Roman Empire until it was discovered in a library in Pisa in 1070. It had a big impact because many people were impressed with the key principles of Roman civil law: citizenship and citizenship rights, equality under the law, the right to a trial and the right to appeal, innocent until proven guilty, that the burden of proof rest on the accuser and not on the accused, and that an unfair law can be repealed. It also included important essays on law and student textbooks which facilitated the study of law. Eventually, though this work, Roman civil law became the foundation of the civil laws of many modern countries.

The Corpus Juris Civilis came in four parts:

1) The Codex (book) or Codex Justinianus, which was a review of imperial laws going back 400 years (to the time of Hadrian). It scrapped obsolete or unnecessary laws, made changes when necessary and clarified obscure passages. Its aim was to put the laws in a single book (previously they were written on many different scrolls), harmonise conflicting view among jurists which arose from centuries of poorly organised development of Roman law and have a coherent body of law. It consists of 12 books, 1 book covers ecclesiastical law, the duties of high officers and sources of law, 7 cover private law, 1 criminal law and 3 administrative laws.

2) The Digesta which was a collection of fragments taken from essays on laws written by jurists (mostly from the 2nd and 3rd centuries) and which expressed the private opinions of legal experts. Most were from Ulpian (40%) and Paulus (17%). It was a large amount of writing which was condensed in 50 books. It was used as an advanced law student textbook.

3) The Institutiones was a textbook for first year law students written by two professors. It was a series of extracts from statements on the basic institutions of Roman law from the teaching books by 'writers of authority.' In was largely based on the texts of Gaius, a jurist of the 2nd century AD.

4) The Novellae Constitutiones, which contained laws recently issued by Justinian.

Answer 2

The laws of Justinian I (or the Great) was only one part of the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) which was dubbed the Justinian Code in the 16th century. The bulk of this work was a compendium of 400 years of Roman imperial edicts (laws) and collections of essays by famous Roman jurists in two student textbooks. The impact of the Corpus Juris Civilis on Roman society is not known because contemporary writers did not comment on this.

Justinian's actual laws were strict. His rule was quite despotic. He was an autocrat who regulated everything in administration, law and religion tightly. It was said that the church could do nothing contrary to his will. He established what has been dubbed caesaropapism in the Byzantine Empire. This term refers to the emperor (the Caesar) being firmly in charge of the church (like a pope). The imperial state controlled the institutions of the church. Justinian I was one of the most important emperors in the history of the Orthodox Church, the official church of the empire . He was described as a 'nursing father' of this church. He put it on a more solid footing, and redefined its structure. He wanted to protect its purity and persecuted dissident Christian sects and paganism. He secured the rights of the church and the clergy and protected and expanded the monastic orders. He granted the monks the right to inherit property from private individuals and to receive annual gifts for the state and banned the confiscation of monastic property. He gave the canons of the church legal force and issued laws regarding the administration of church property, the elections, rights and obligations of the clergy, the conduct of service and episcopal jurisdiction.

With regard to the Corpus Juris Civilis came in four parts:

1) The Codex (book) Justinianus, which was a review of imperial laws going back 400 years (to the time of Hadrian). It scrapped obsolete or unnecessary laws, made changes when necessary and clarified obscure passages. Its aim was to put the laws in a single book (previously they were written on many different scrolls), harmonise conflicting views among jurists which arose from centuries of poorly organised development of Roman law and have a uniform and coherent body of law. It consists of 12 books, 1 book covers ecclesiastical law, the duties of high officers and sources of law, 7 cover private law, 1 criminal law and 3 administrative laws.

2) The Digesta is a collection of fragments taken from essays on laws written by jurists (mostly from the 2nd and 3rd centuries) which express the private opinions of legal experts. Most were from Ulpian (40%) and Paulus (17%). It was a large amount of writing which was condensed in 50 books. It was used as an advanced law student textbook.

3) The Institutiones is a textbook for first year law students written by two professors. It was a series of extracts from statements on the basic institutions of Roman law from the teaching books by 'writers of authority.' In was largely based on the texts of Gaius, a jurist of the 2nd century AD.

4) The Novellae Constitutiones, which contained laws recently issued by Justinian.