Stipulatio was the basic form of the treatise in Roman law. This was done in the form of questions and answers. The exact nature of the contract was controversial, as seen below. Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including legal developments that span a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tablets (c. 449 BC) to the Corpus Juris Civilis (529 AD) ordered by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. Roman law provides the basic framework of civil law, the most widely used legal system today, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The historical importance of Roman law is reflected in the continued use of Latin legal terminology in many of the legal systems it influences, including the common law. The Codex Justinianus and the institutes of Justinian were known in Western Europe and, along with the earlier codex of Theodosius II, served as a model for some of the Germanic legal codes; However, the digest part was largely ignored for several centuries until a manuscript of the digest was rediscovered in Italy around 1070. This was done mainly through the work of glossaries who wrote their comments between the lines (glossa interlinearis) or in the form of marginal notes (glossa marginalis).
From that moment on, scholars began to study ancient Roman legal texts and teach others what they had learned from their studies. The center of these studies was Bologna. The local law school gradually grew to become the first university in Europe. Some of the most important principles of Roman law were: equal treatment before the law. The idea that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof lies with the prosecutor. The most important principle of Roman law was that it should be written and transparent. That is, everyone should know what the law was, and the law should not change simply because of the whim of a leader or judge. This idea of the rule of law was the basis of all Roman law. There are three important principles of Roman law. An accused was presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Second, the accused was allowed to face the prosecutor and offer a defence against the prosecution.
Eventually, guilt had to be established “more clearly than daylight” with solid evidence. The Constitution of the Roman Republic, or mos maiorum (“ancestral custom”), was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles transmitted mainly by precedents. The concepts that have their origins in the Roman Constitution live in the constitutions to this day. Examples include checks and balances, separation of powers, vetoes, obstructions, quorum requirements, term limits, impeachments, stock exchange powers, and regular elections. Even some less common modern constitutional concepts, such as block voting in the U.S. Electoral College, come from ideas found in the Roman Constitution. The military coat of the Roman soldiers, which consisted of a quadruple piece of cloth worn on the armor and attached to the shoulder with a clasp. It was a symbol of war, just as the gown was the symbol of peace. In the period between about 201 and 27 BC. J.-C., we can see the development of more flexible laws to meet the needs of the time. In addition to the old and formal ius civile, a new legal class is created: the ius honorarium, which can be defined as “the law introduced by judges who had the right to issue edicts to support, supplement or correct the existing law”. [5] With this new law, the old formalism is abandoned and new, more flexible principles of ius gentium are used.
Principles All citizens have the right to equal treatment before the law. One person was presumed innocent and guilty. The burden of proof lies with the prosecutor and not with the accused. Any law that seemed unreasonable or manifestly unjust could be repealed. The four parts of Justinian`s codification are as follows: (1) The institutes set out the basic elements of jurisprudence, which appear in didactic form. (2) The collection or pandects with different rules derived from the institutes. These rules are accompanied by opinions on the law and organized on the basis of a compendium. The Digest consists of fifty books divided into seven parts. The Pandects also contain about fifty books, each book contains several titles. Taken together, the Digest and the Pandects are an important source of law and authority.
(3) The Codex Justinianis, divided into twelve books; Each book had several parts. The first nine books were called Codex, the other three books contained the Jus Publicum. (4) Novels (Novellae Constitutiones). About 168 books were placed in a volume that provided an explanation of Justinian`s codes. These have been translated into different languages. The Roman law of the first known period is usually expressed in the twelve tablets with their distinct formalism. The usual early procedure was also stereotypical; It was the legis actio, a form of indictment and denial whose words had to be closely followed by the parties, at the risk of losing the trial. Influence of Roman laws on democracy? After the middle of the 6th century, Roman law continued to exist within the framework of Germanic laws and was in force in the Byzantine Empire. The revival of classical studies during the Renaissance paved the way for the partial resurrection of Roman law as modern civil law in much of the world. Jus gentium is perhaps most prevalent in modern legal systems, as it is the basis of commercial law, even in countries that follow the common law.
Roman laws influenced democracy. Some of the most important principles of Roman law were the following: equality of treatment before the law, innocent until proven guilty, the burden of proof was on the prosecutor, and inappropriate or unjust laws could be repealed. The Constitution of the Roman Republic was neither formal nor even official. Its constitution was largely unwritten and continued to evolve throughout the life of the republic. Throughout the 1st century BC, the power and legitimacy of the Roman constitution gradually eroded. Even Roman constitutionalists, such as Senator Cicero, lost the will to remain faithful to it towards the end of the republic. When the Roman Republic finally fell in the years following the Battle of Actium and the suicide of Mark Antony, what remained of the Roman Constitution died with the Republic. .
