The purpose of this article is to show the nature and legal requirements of the will for the benefit of churches or pious works. The conclusion reached in these considerations is that post-classical roman law, although it did not recognize the legal personality of the Catholic Church, guaranteed the particular ecclesial communities and pious works run by the Church wide access to material goods, by way of testamentary universal succession, as well as testamentary succession under particular title. This was made possible through the recognition of ecclesial communities and charities as legal entities having testamenti factio passiva by Roman law. Wills benefiting churches or pious works necessitated, for their validity, abiding by all of the formal requirements for making a declaration of intent, in particular the presence of seven witnesses, regardless of whether the declaration was oral or written. As such, wills benefitting churches or pious works were not considered under Roman law to be privileged in form. It was Pope Alexander III who first challenged the requirement of the presence of seven witnesses. Since then, canon law treated wills for the benefit of churches or pious works as a privileged kind of will, whose validity required the presence of only two witnesses. Thus, this type of will was an institution present in both legal orders, but only received its privileged nature in medieval canon law.
Like all official activities, also the opening of a will was carried out in the time and place provided by law. They were the resultant of various factors, such as the place and circumstances of the death of the testator, the time of funeral, as well as the accessibility of the will itself, witnesses to its preparation and physical presence of the official for whom the procedure of opening the will had to be carried out. In each case, there were widely available places, because the opening of a will was public. This article considers the regulations regarding the time of legal opening of a will, in particular the precedence of the funeral of the deceased testator. Next explains the factors determining the place of the opening of the will, among others, the territorial competence of state officials in this respect, the availability of the witnesses of the will and the place of its storage.
The aim of this article is to explain the final stage of the procedure of opening of a testament, in particular, how the testament was protected once it was closed again. An action related to the resealing of a testament is explained, a person who was responsible for its sealing and storing is indicated, as well as an attempt is made to determine the location where the resealed testament was archived. It has been established that only the official responsible for carrying out the opening procedure would affix the seal to the once again closed testament, and if the testament was opened with the participation of extraordinary witnesses due to absence of witnesses of the testament making, it was also sealed by them. The resealed testament, if verification by absent witnesses was not needed, was immediately deposited with the heir who was considered the testament owner, or placed in the temple archive or the official archive for safekeeping.
PL
Celem niniejszego artykułu jest wyjaśnienie końcowego etapu procedury otwarcia testamentu, w szczególności sposobów zabezpieczenia ponownie zamkniętego testamentu. Została w nim wyjaśniona czynność związana z ponownym opieczętowaniem testamentu, wskazano, na kim spoczywały obowiązki związane z jego opieczętowaniem i przechowaniem, a także podjęto próbę ustalenia miejsca przechowywania ponownie zamkniętego testamentu. Ustalono, że pieczęć na ponownie zamkniętym testamencie przykładał tylko urzędnik odpowiedzialny za przeprowadzenie procedury otwarcia, a gdy z powodu braku świadków sporządzenia testamentu testament został otwarty z udziałem nadzwyczajnych świadków otwarcia, był on pieczętowany także przez nich. Ponownie opieczętowany testament, o ile nie zachodziła potrzeba jego weryfikacji przez nieobecnych świadków, oddawano natychmiast w depozyt dziedzicowi, którego uważano za właściciela testamentu, albo przekazywano na przechowanie w archiwum świątynnym lub urzędowym.
This article e xamines the issue of preventing the abuse of the right to a court. The author highlights that the phenomenon of abusing this right and the measures to prevent it have accompanied the development of law and legal regulations since ancient times. The article explores the abuse of the right to a court in relation to the Roman sacramentum and discusses the essence of contemporary SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) along with methods of counteracting them. Sacramentum was a procedural law institution with deep roots in the religious tradition of ancient Rome and significant symbolic meaning, whereas SLAPPs represent a modern, undesirable phenomenon linked to procedural and financial aspects of the legal system. The article also examines the relationships, similarities, and differences between the ancient Roman sacramentum and modern SLAPPs and attempts to answer the question whether an equivalent of the Roman sacramentum could effectively curb contemporary SLAPPs.
The subject of this article is the issue of prevention the abuse of the right to a court. The author draws attention to the fact that the phenomenon of the abuse of the right to a court and its prevention have accompanied the development of law and legal regulations since ancient times. The article presents the issue of the abuse of the right to a court in relation to the Roman sacramentum and indicates the essence of contemporary SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) and ways of counteracting them. Sacramentum was an institution of procedural law and has deep roots in the religious tradition of ancient Rome and symbolic meaning, while SLAPPs are a modern, undesirable phenomenon related to the procedural and financial aspects of the legal system. The article also indicates the relationships, similarities and differences between the ancient Roman sacramentum and modern SLAPPs, as well as an attempt to answer the question whether the use of the equivalent of the Roman institution of sacramentum could effectively limit contemporary SLAPPs.
PL
Przedmiotem niniejszego artykułu jest zagadnienie zapobiegania nadużywania prawa do sądu. Autor zwraca uwagę na fakt, że zjawisko nadużywania prawa do sądu oraz zapobieganie temu zjawisku towarzyszą rozwojowi prawa od najdawniejszych czasów i regulacji prawnych. W artykule przedstawiono zagadnienie nadużywania prawa do sądu w odniesieniu do rzymskiego sacramentum i wskazano istotę współczesnych SLAPP-ów (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) oraz sposoby im przeciwdziałania. Sacramentum było instytucją prawa procesowego i ma głębokie korzenie w tradycji religijnej starożytnego Rzymu oraz symboliczneznaczenie, podczas gdy SLAPP-y są współczesnym, niepożądanym zjawiskiem, związanym z aspektami proceduralnymi i finansowymi systemu prawnego. Zostaną także wskazane związki, podobieństwa i różnice między starożytnym rzymskim sacramentum i współczesnymi SLAPP-ami, a także podjęta próba odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy zastosowanie odpowiednika rzymskiej instytucji sacramentum mogłoby skutecznie ograniczyć współczesne SLAPP-y.