1- Information Sources of Roman Law: Information sources of Roman law form the basis of contemporary continental European law. We examine this period in three parts: the sources of information before Justinian, the compilation of Justinian (Corpus Iuris Civilis) and the sources of information after Justinian.
A- Sources of Information Before Justinian: The most important source of information before Justinian is a book consisting of four chapters, which we call Institutiones (institutions) prepared by Gaius. This book covers the basic institutions and concepts of law.
B- Collection of Justinian (Corpus Juris Civilis): Justinian ordered the lawyers to conduct codification studies in order to unify and enact the law. As a result of the compilations of the jurists, the Corpus Juris Civilis corpus, consisting of four parts, including the decrees of Istinianus, was prepared.
The first part of the corpus is Gaius’ book Institutiones.
The second part is Digesta (Pandecta). The most comprehensive and broadest section is the Digesta. Digesta is a section taken from the works of the classical period jurists and arranged, classified and published in a certain system. There are texts describing concrete events in Digesta. Abstract provisions have been derived from these concrete events.
The third part is the Codex and this part consists of imperial orders.
The fourth division is Novallae. . This section is similar to Codex. But it only consists of the orders of Emperor Justinian.
However, there are Interpolatios and Glossas as the fifth section in the Corpus Juris Civilis examples that we have today. While preparing Corpus Juris Civilis, classical period jurists were used. The process of changing them later in order to adapt them to the era is called Interpolatio. These are actually deliberate changes. Glossas, on the other hand, are the notes written in the original text to help the teaching of law, to be considered as belonging to the original text and accepted as a change.
C- Information Sources After Justinian: The sources of information after Justinian are the sources belonging to the Byzantine period. Examples of these are the Basilica, consisting of royal laws, expressing the products of Byzantine law, and the Hexabiblos, a compilation of a Thessaloniki judge.
