The Administration of Justice

Abstract

From the vantage point of history the most distinguished and, by the same token, the most enduring single feature of the Roman political civilization is the creation, development, and perfection of a rationalized system of law, purged of its ritualistic encumbrances, and its protection and enforcement by an effective administration of justice. In no other field of human endeavor have the Romans, inferior to the Greeks in artistic and philosophical attainments, a greater claim to lasting fame than in the elaboration of an all-embracing system of legal rules corresponding to, and satisfying, the social needs of the community. From Roman law the Western world once and for all derived the norms by which social relations within the community could be conducted fairly and peaceably and the orderly life of its members be safeguarded. The system of law guaranteed the individual legal security, equality of rights and duties, and, as far as it is humanly possible, the impartiality of the administration of justice. In both the substantive content and the procedural arrangements, the Roman law constituted the foremost gift of the Roman genius to enrich subsequent social order and human civilization.