The edicts of the magistrates
After the establishment of the Principate the praetors and other lawdispensing magistrates continued to exercise their traditional judicial functions. However, the productive strength of the ius honorarium as an independent source of law gradually diminished as magisterial initiatives became increasingly rare.
Whatever changes were made in the edicts largely embraced measures which had been introduced by other lawmaking agencies (such as leges or senatus consulta'). By the end of the first century AD, the praetorian edict, as well as the edicts of the aediles and the provincial governors, had become solidified and immutable.[924] This state of affairs was formally recognised during the reign of Hadrian by the codification of the praetorian edict - a task assigned by the emperor to the jurist Salvius Julianus. Although very little can be said with certainty about the way in which the work of codification was carried out, it is believed that the edicts of both the praetor urbanus and the praetor peregrinus, as well as that of the curule aediles, provided the basis for this compilation. The codified edict was formally ratified by a senatus consultum around 130 AD.[925] From that time magistrates were expected to accept and administer the edict as it stood, without modifications, and if further changes were needed these were to be made by imperial enactment.[926] [927] [928] In the years that followed the codification of the edict the praetors no longer had control over the content of their edicts and their role was reduced to that of subordinate officials without any law-making powers.
More on the topic The edicts of the magistrates:
- The Edicts of the Magistrates
- 2. EDICTS OF MAGISTRATES
- The edicts of the magistrates
- THE PERSECUTION AND PRICES EDICTS
- Magistrates’ courts
- Courts of other magistrates
- The criminal jurisdiction of the magistrates
- Other extraordinary magistrates
- Functions of the magistrates
- Republican magistrates
- Categories of Roman magistrates