The courts

As was explained in chapter 4, most civil cases were decided by one judge sitting alone {index unus), who was appointed by the praetor with the consent of the parties concerned.

From the third century BC new courts began to be established made up of several judges to deal with cases of a more complex nature. The members of these courts were selected by lot {sortitio) from the album iudicum, although both the plaintiff and the defendant had the right to challenge one or more of the judges so chosen {r elect io).

The court of the centumviri

The centumviral court was instituted in the second half of the third century BC. It consisted of 105 members, three from each of the thirty-five tribes {tribus) into which the territory of Rome was divided. The court exercised its jurisdiction in the name of the Roman people either as a single body (collegium) or divided into sections (consilia) which heard cases separately. During the Republic it was presided over by ex-quaestors. In the imperial period it consisted of a panel of 180 persons and was normally divided into four sections presided over by the decemviri?⁹ We are unable to state with certainty what sort of cases fell in the jurisdiction of this court. On the basis of the scanty evidence available it appears that it dealt with cases concerning inheritances valued at no less than 100,000 sesterces, with disputes about guardianship and the ownership of land and with certain criminal cases. The regular form of procedure before the centumviral court was that of the legis actio sacramento, even after this type of procedure was abolished by Augustus in 17 BC.^{^[624]}[625] According to Gaius, when the court sat in judgement (centumvirale iudicium) a spear (hasta) was set upright before the judges as a symbol of the court's authority to settle disputes.^{^[626]} Trials before the centumviral court attracted a great deal of attention and, according to Pliny, this court was the most exciting forum for a forensic orator. Eminent lawyers, including Q.

Mucius Scaevola and L. Licinius Crassus, delivered some of their most splendid speeches before this court (acting as advocates, rather than jurists). The centumviral court was finally abolished in the third century AD.

The decemviri stlitibus iudicandis

This court was composed of ten members and had jurisdiction over disputes concerning a person's status as a free man (liberales causae).^{^[627]}After the enactment of the leges luliae iudiciorum of Augustus in 17 BC the decemviri served as chairmen of the different sections of the centumviral court.^{^[628]}

The recuperatores

The term recuperatores originally referred to a mixed body of commissioners appointed under treaties between Rome and foreign states for the purpose of trying cases involving disputes between foreign merchants.^{^[629]} Later a court consisting of three or, sometimes, five members was established in Rome, which dealt with disputes between Roman citizens and foreigners under the supervision of the praetor peregrinus.^{^[630]}As the relevant procedure was simpler and more flexible than that followed by the ordinary courts,^{^[631]}[632] disputes between Roman citizens also were often submitted to this court by mutual consent of the parties (especially when a speedy decision was desired). In the first century AD the jurisdiction of the recuperatores was extended to cover cases concerning the state treasury {aerarium).⁵¹ The court of the recuperatores is not mentioned in postclassical law.

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Source: Mousourakis George. The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Routledge,2003. — 480 p.. 2003

The courts

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