The Justinian code

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By Lindsay, Calvin and Meghan
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What?

• The Justinian Code is a collection of Roman laws
  over 1000 years
• It can also be referred to as The Corpus Juris
  Civilis, The Body of Civil Law

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When?

• The Justinian Code was published during the reign
  of Emperor Justinian I (A.D. 483565)
• In February 528, Justinian appointed a
  commission, consisting of ten people, to make a
  new collection of imperial constitutions. The
  result was to combine Roman Law into one code,
  known as the Justinian Code
• The Code was in affect from 528 534

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Where?

• Originated in Rome
• Became the foundation of law in most western
  European Countries.

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Main Features of the Legal System

• The Justinian code is made up of 4 parts
• The Institutes a textbook in law for students
  and lawyers.
• The Digest a casebook keeping track of cases and
  important decisions.
• The Codex a collection of statues and principles
• The Novels a book containing new proposed laws.

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..

• It was forbidden to refer to any other sources.
• The texts were in Latin, the official Language of
  the government Empire.
• The Justinian Code did not live on.
• But was used in Middle Ages as a private law
• This revived Roman Law, is the foundation of law
  in all civil law jurisdictions.

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Agree or Disagree?
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People in an ascendant-descendant
relationship---father-daughter aunt-nephew, etc.
may not marry. Brothers and sisters may not
marry, but first cousins could.
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A Christian cannot marry a Jew.
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A widow may not remarry less than a year after
her husbands death.  Severe financial penalties
followed violation of this rule.
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A girl who was less than 12 years old when she
married is not really a lawful wife until she
reaches that age although she can continue to
live with her husband until then.
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In the law of persons, then, the first division
is into free men and slaves.
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Slaves are either born so, their mothers being
slaves themselves, or they become so (should you
be born a slave?)
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Impact on the Canadian Legal System/Importance

• Made the law simple and organized so that all
  people could have an understanding of it
• The Justinian Code became the basis of law for a
  lot of countries throughout most western European
  countries
• Very successful at combining three types of law
  in order to form private law
• Without it, law making and law enforcement
  wouldnt be as advanced as it is today