Digest Concept - Definition

The word Digesto is a legal term, which proceeds in its etymology of the Latin "digestus", a word integrated by the prefix "di" that indicates divergence, and by "gestus" that is to do something, in this case, to order the contradictory or dispersed legal norms, to grant them systematization.

The Digest was one of the parts of the famous compilation of laws and opinions of jurists that made the Roman emperor Justinian, of the East or Byzantine emperor, which had fifty books, and was made in the year 533.Alli ordered the "Iura", that is to say the opinions expressed by the famous classical Roman jurists.However, the quotations are not taken literally, since Triboniano, its editor, was authorized by Justiniano to modify them if necessary for practical reasons.the work, known as "Corpus Iuris Civilis" was the Code, the Institutes and the Novels.

The Digest is also known as Pandectas, Greek term.It is divided into seven parts.The first covers the first four books and deals with general principles.The second, books five to eleven.It deals with actions, property and its defense, and other real rights.The third part is books twelve to nineteen and deals with obligations and contr atos.The fourth, books twenty to twenty-seven and the subject are obligations and family law.Inheritance, legacies and trusts are occupied by books twenty-eight to thirty-six, which make up the fifth part.books thirty-seven to forty-four, which deal with the Praetorian inheritance.The seventh part is books ranging from forty-five to fifty, with criminal and municipal law issues.

The oldest copy that we can still appreciate, dates from the 6th century, and is the Pisano or Florentine Manuscript.It is known by that name because it was in the city of Pisa until 1406 and then transferred to Florence.

Although the Digest, it is par excellence, this justinian work, at the present time Digest is said to all compilation of norms, as the case for example of the Administrative Digest that meets all the norms that govern an Institution, or the Municipal Digest, which compiles the ordinances of that body, or the Digest of Automotive Technical Standards, which deals with that theme.