A body of law. A term used to signify a book comprehending several collections of law. There are two principal collections to which this name is given; the Corpus Juris Civilis, and the Corpus Juris Canonici. Corpus juris canonei. The body of the canon law. A compilation of the canon law, comprising the decrees and canons of the Roman Church, constituting the body of ecclesiastical law of that church. Corpus juris oivilis. The body of the civil law. The system of Roman jurisprudence compiled and codified under the direction of the emperor Justinian, in A. D. 528-534. This collection comprises the Institutes, Digest, (or Pandects,) Code, and Novels. The name is said to have been first applied to this collection early in the seventeenth century.
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