Novellae

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The novellae (the final part of the Justinian collection of laws) and part of the so called Corpus iuris civilis since 1583 according to Dionysius Gothofredus ; here as an extract from the Authenticum (Gothofredus, 1614.)

The Novellae (short: NJ , derived from Novellae Iustiniani ; occasionally: Nov. ) are a collection of supplementary laws ( leges novellae ) from the Justinian era after 535 , written in Latin and mostly in Greek . Together with the two textbooks, Institutiones (for first-year students) , Digest (Advanced) and of Hadrian to Justin I. -reaching imperial constitutions of the Codex Justinian , the complete works of the later so-called made Corpus juris civilis .

With the predominantly Greek-language drafting of the legal texts, a U-turn occurred, because from then on Latin was superseded as the legal and codification language . In order to remain an asset for legal practice, paraphrases and commentaries were also inserted in Greek. Under Leo VI. the work was renewed and published together with notes and references to imperial constitutions under the title basilicas .

Although the great codification had been published, as a result of ongoing reform legislation, a second version of the Codex Iustinianus was necessary in order to be able to do justice to the initial claim for a comprehensively applicable universal law. In 534 the Codex repetitae praelectionis was presented to the public . Since the emperor had intervened in the legal system with some extensive individual laws and in particular parts of private law, especially family and inheritance law, had been reorganized, corresponding supplementary laws ( novellae ) were required .

Justinian realized that he had to permanently adapt the legislation to changing framework conditions, which is why he issued a series of amendments in the years 535 to 539. The regulations did not have to be of a fundamental nature; measures born out of the situation that required a legal format were sufficient. With the entry into force of the “new” Codex on November 16, 534, the first Novellae were also promulgated . These were probably never officially compiled during Justinian's reign, albeit in prospect . According to current research findings, they can only be found in the private collections of the Epitome Iuliani and the Authenticum , although the writing of both works in 556 is considered proven, in the case of the Authenticum it is more likely. The so-called Greek collection of novels once provided an originally holistic overview of all the novellas in the original original text (in Latin or Greek) . It probably comprised 168 novellae , because in addition to the Justinian novellas (plus the thirteen novellas that were appended to the Edicta Iustiniani ), it also contained constitutions of his successors Justin II and Tiberios II , even mere decrees by Praetorian prefects ( praetorii ).

Justinian's need to standardize the law also affected the ecclesiastical field. With his regulations he contributed to the Christianization of the legal system. Overall, Justinian set the course for secular and ecclesiastical law to begin to grow together.

Not to be confused are Novellae with novellae leges , referring to the legislation of the Emperor Theodosius II. , Valentinian III. and majorian .

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literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Kunkel / Martin Schermaier : Römische Rechtsgeschichte , 14th edition. UTB, Cologne / Vienna 2005, § 11, pp. 221–223 ( The legal development of the late period up to Justinian ).
  2. ^ Herbert Hausmaninger , Walter Selb : Roman private law. Böhlau, Vienna 1981 (9th edition 2001), ISBN 3-205-07171-9 , p. 55 f.
  3. ↑ Corpus Iuris Civilis is not a contemporary term, it comes from the humanistic epoch of the late 16th century and was coined by Dionysius Gothofredus in 1583.
  4. ^ Heinrich Honsell : Roman law. 5th edition, Springer, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-540-42455-5 , p. 17 f.
  5. ^ Jan Dirk Harke : Roman law. From the classical period to the modern codifications . Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-57405-4 ( floor plans of the law ), § 2 no. 3, p. 21.
  6. ↑ Tony Honoré : Justinian's Codification in: The Oxford Classical Dictionary 803 (Eds .: Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth), 2003; Timothy G. Kearley: The Creation and Transmission of Justinian's Novels .