Manuscript Digestum vetus from the collection of the Kórnik Library, Polish Academy of Sciences.

Currently in the collection of the Kórnik Library, the manuscript, produced by order of the Emperor Justinian, contains Digestum vetus with the later gloss of Accursius. It is considered one of the most interesting copies of this work in Europe, its rank determined mainly by the rich iconographic program consisting of 25 initials and over 230 illustrations in the margins, the majority of which are multiform scenes. Art historians studying the discussed manuscript indicate that among numerous manuscripts of the Digestum preserved in European collections, there is not another one with such a gorgeous illustrative programme. The miniature illustrations in initials, produced by a single master, open subsequent books of the Digests, referring specifically to the content of the first titles of given books. The remaining 238 marginal miniatures were made by three illustrators working in parallel on particular signatures to the manuscript. The analysis of their dispersion on each page has revealed that they were produced once the marginal gloss of Accursius was written down. In most cases the illustrations directly illustrate case studies contained in the Digestum. These miniatures were designed so as to facilitate the perception of the text of the Digestum, help in memorising specific cases and to facilitate the search in the entire comprehensive codification. In light of recent findings of art historians, this manuscript was produced in several stages. First, the text of the Digestum was written, probably in northern Italy, in the last quarter of the twelfth century, then, in France in the 1230s the marginal gloss of Accarsius was added and illuminations prepared. This Code came to Poland in the fifteenth century, owing to the canon of Kraków and the scholastic of Płock Dersław of Karnice, who bought it during his studies in Italy in the years 1469–1471. The manuscript spent 300 years in the library of the Chapter of Płock, where he was purchased by Tadeusz Czacki to be located it in the Poryck Library. Then Digesta were bought by Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, and stored in the Library of Puławy, from where with a considerable part of manuscripts, it was ultimately transported to the Działyński Library in Kórnik, which has housed them to this day.

Like all official activities, also the opening of a will was carried out in the time and place provided by law. They were the resultant of various factors, such as the place and circumstances of the death of the testator, the time of funeral, as well as the accessibility of the will itself, witnesses to its preparation and physical presence of the official for whom the procedure of opening the will had to be carried out. In each case, there were widely available places, because the opening of a will was public. This article considers the regulations regarding the time of legal opening of a will, in particular the precedence of the funeral of the deceased testator. Next explains the factors determining the place of the opening of the will, among others, the territorial competence of state officials in this respect, the availability of the witnesses of the will and the place of its storage.

The purpose of this article is to indicate that all the fundamental private law institutions regarding liability for delicts, negligence, detriments etc. have its roots in Roman law. Lex Aquilia and its creative interpretation made by classical Roman lawyers can be one of the most valuable examples of this historical process. The following essay emphasizes that the classical Roman jurists have developed such an important legal instruments as: the concept of fault, negligence, due diligence, causation etc. Moreover the article contains source texts with case studies and its explanations based on classical interpretation made by Roman lawyers. In addition, the last part of the lecture indicates the main similarities and differences between ancient and modern private law instruments. The article may be useful for law students and legal practitioners to understand the origin and main idea of modern legal principals and therefore improve their skills.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the pertinency and importancy of maintaining Roman Law as a fundamental subject in the studies leading to obtain a Law Degree. Roman Law is a propaedeutic subject that allows students to learn, understand and apprehend the basics of Law and to use a proper technique to think juridically. Roman law is not only the ground of Continental and Latin American legal systems, but their case method also permeates the Anglo-Saxon legal system. Essentially, it is a subject that provides the capabilities to be able to call “jurists” and not shysters those who obtain a Law Degree.

The purpose of this article is to show the nature and legal requirements of the will for the benefit of churches or pious works. The conclusion reached in these considerations is that post-classical roman law, although it did not recognize the legal personality of the Catholic Church, guaranteed the particular ecclesial communities and pious works run by the Church wide access to material goods, by way of testamentary universal succession, as well as testamentary succession under particular title. This was made possible through the recognition of ecclesial communities and charities as legal entities having testamenti factio passiva by Roman law. Wills benefiting churches or pious works necessitated, for their validity, abiding by all of the formal requirements for making a declaration of intent, in particular the presence of seven witnesses, regardless of whether the declaration was oral or written. As such, wills benefitting churches or pious works were not considered under Roman law to be privileged in form. It was Pope Alexander III who first challenged the requirement of the presence of seven witnesses. Since then, canon law treated wills for the benefit of churches or pious works as a privileged kind of will, whose validity required the presence of only two witnesses. Thus, this type of will was an institution present in both legal orders, but only received its privileged nature in medieval canon law.

Freedom of movement within the European Union raises many problems in the area of inheritance law. Until now, the inheriting has been conducted in several EU countries – in the places where there were the fragmented assets of the testator. In an effort to standardize the law of succession, the European Parliament and the EU Council adopted Regulation No. 650/2012 which unified rules of inheritance proceedings in the European Union. The regulation was implemented by Polish legislator with the Act of 20th March 2015 and with the connected regulations. The most important change was the introduction of the inventory list and the change of the succession rule of inheritance debts from the unlimited responsibility to the responsibility limited to the value of the list or inventory.

The paper discusses the attitude of the Roman Empire towards Christianity during the period of Principate and Dominate, as a side theme to the debate on religious liberty launched at the time of the Vatican Council II. It analyzes the approach of emperors to religious views in the Theodosian and Justinianic Codes. It also touches upon the relations between the State and the Church in the present situation of the III Polish Republic.

The concept of „public utility”, used in contemporary language of the law and juridical language, was also used in Roman law as utilitas publica. This concept allows to separate the public sphere from the private sector. However, the boundary between sphere of public sphere and private sector have not always been blurred since ancient times. In ancient Rome, the boundary between what was public and what was private was changing and depended on a type of political system, an understanding of the public good or the boundaries of individual’s autonomy. In contemporary times there is also a debate over how far should the powers of the State reach. There is even a discussion about the redefinition of the State, and even about the need for withdrawing the State from the areas of activities traditionally belonging to its empire. It is assumed that the public utility is a service as well as leading production used to meet the needs of all people in a continuous manner. It is not required, that this availability is truly enjoyed by all.