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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.1.6.pr-1.1.6.1

Definition of Civil Law and Written and Unwritten Law

Passage 6 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian defines civil law as a proper law created by adding to or subtracting from the common law (natural law or the law of nations), and notes that, like Greek law, it consists of both written and unwritten forms.

[ULPIANUS libro primo institutionum. ] §1.1.6.prIus ciuile est, quod neque in totum a naturali uel gentium recedit nec per omnia ei seruit: itaque cum aliquid addimus uel detrahimus iuri communi, ius proprium, id est ciuile efficimus.
[ULPIANUS in the first book of the Institutes.] Civil law is that which neither departs entirely from natural law or the law of nations, nor serves them in all respects; therefore, when we add anything to or subtract anything from the common law, we produce a proper law, that is, civil law.
§1.1.6.1Hoc igitur ius nostrum constat aut ex scripto aut sine scripto, ut apud Graecos: τῶν νόμων οἳ μὲν ἔγγραφοι, οἳ δὲ ἄγραφοι.
This law of ours, therefore, consists either of written or of unwritten law, as among the Greeks: "of the laws, some are written, others unwritten."

Notes

  1. §1.1.6.prei — Dative singular pronoun. It refers back to the preceding phrase 'a naturali uel gentium [iure]' (from natural law or the law of nations) treated as a collective concept (common law), serving as the dative object governed by the verb 'seruit'.
  2. §1.1.6.priuri communi — Placed as a common complement for both verbs: 'addimus' (which governs the dative, 'add to') and 'detrahimus' (which governs the ablative or dative, 'subtract from').
  3. §1.1.6.1τῶν νόμων οἳ μὲν ἔγγραφοι, οἳ δὲ ἄγραfoι — The genitive 'τῶν νόμων' is a partitive genitive depending on the divided subjects 'οἳ μὲν ... οἳ δὲ' ('some... others...'). It represents the contrast: 'of the laws, some are written, others unwritten'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.1.6.pr-1.1.6.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.1.6.pr-1.1.6.1

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