A Will Made During an Epidemic – Roman testamentum pestis tempore condictum and Selected Modern Regulations

Authors

  • Marek Sobczyk Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu)

Keywords:

testamentum pestis tempore conditum, a will, special forms of will, epidemic

Abstract

This article deals with the problem of making a will during an epidemic and simplifications in the testamentary formalities that are necessary to facilitate a testator to validly express his or her wishes in such difficult and specific circumstances. It analyses testamentum tempore pectis conditum in Roman law and its modern equivalents in Spanish, Italian and Polish law. Preconditions of applicability of the special forms of a will in those systems and the simplifications introduced therein are compared. The article presents the specific provisions in which this form of a will is regulated and their interpretation in civil law doctrine and case law. The central questions are: under which circumstances this form of a will is allowed, what the purpose of the special regulations is, what the relaxation from the ordinary testamentary formalities consists in and what requirements should be fulfilled after the will is made to preserve its validity. Some basic comparisons with the ordinary forms of a will are made to establish the peculiarities of the will drawn up during the epidemic. The differences between the analysed provisions and their importance in practice are pointed out.

References

Ackermann E., Über das Testament zur Pestzeit, ”Archiv für die civilistische Praxis” 1849, no 32.

Ankum J.A., Spruit J.E., [in:] Corpus Iuris Civilis. Text en Vertaling, hgg. J.E. Spruit, J.M.J. Chorus, L. de Ligt, bd. 8, Amsterdam 2007.

Bojarski W., Prawo rzymskie [Roman Law], Toruń 1994.

Borysiak W., Funkcjonowanie w praktyce testamentu sporządzonego w formie ustnej (art. 952) [Functioning in Practice of a Will Made in Oral Form (art. 952)], Warszawa 2014.

Borysiak W., Testamenty szczególne w formie ustnej w perspektywie porównawczej [Special Nuncupative Wills in a Comparative Context], „Prawo w działaniu. Sprawy cywilne” 2016, no 27.

Braun A., Testamentary Formalities in Italy, [in:] Comparative Succession Law: vol. I, Testamentary Formalities, eds. K.C. Reid, M.J. de Waal, R. Zimmermann, Oxford University Press.

Burdese A., Manuale di diritto privato romano, Torino 1985.

Cámara Lapuente S., Testamentary formalities in Spain, [in:] Comparative Succession Law, vol. 1, Testamentary formalities, eds. K.C. Reid, M.J. Dé Waal, R. Zimmermann, Oxford University Press, 2011.

Castán Pérez-Gómez S., El peligro inminente de muerte como fundamento de formas testamentarias extraordinarias en el Derecho romano y en el Código Civil, [in:] Nuevas orientaciones del Derecho civil en Europa, dir. M. Pereña Vicente y P. Delgado Martín, Madrid 2015.

Castán Pérez-Gómez S., Testar en tiempos de pandemia: antecedentes históricos y en la actualidad, “Rivista Internacional de Derecho Romano” 2021.

Cherchi A., L’idulgenza nel emegenza. Brevi note sul c.d. testamentum tempore pestis nel diritto romano, [in:] Emergenza e diritti tra presente e futuro, a cura di V. Corona e M. F. Cortesi, Napoli 2020.

Climent Escrivá L., Análisis comparativo entre los testamentos actuales y los del derecho romano, http://dspace.umh.es.

Desanti L., Dominare la prassi. I rescritti dioclezianei in materia di successioni, [in:] Diocleziano la frontiera giuridica dell’impero, a cura di W. Eck e S. Puliatti, Pavia 2018.

Di Fabio M., Commentario del Codice civile. Delle successioni art. 565-712, Torino 2010.

Díaz Bautista A., Conspectus Constitutionum Diocletiani, Madrid 2013.

Fier B.W., Kehoe D.P., McGinn T.A.J., The Codex of Justinian. A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text, Based on a Translation by Justice Fred W. Blume, Vol. 2, Cambridge 2016.

Haller R., Corpus Iuris Civilis. Das römische Zivilrecht. Codex Iustiniani nach der zweiten Bearbeitung, Opera Platonis 2018, www.opera-platonis.de/CI/Codex_Iustiniani.pdf.

Iglesias J., Derecho romano. Instituciones de derecho privado, Barcelona 1965.

Iwańska J., Przyczyny, zapobieganie i leczenie chorób epidemicznych w starożytnej Grecji i Rzymie [Reasons, Prevention and Treatment of the Epidemic Diseases in Ancient Greece and Rome], “Seminare. Poszukiwania naukowe” 2010, no 28.

Jungmeister C.A.W., [in:] Das Corpus Iuris Civilis in’s Deutsche übersetz, Band 5, hrsg. C.E. Otto, B. Schilling, C.F.F. Sintetis, Leipzig 1832.

Kaltenbek-Skarbek L., Żurek W., Prawo spadkowe [Inheritance Law], Warszawa 2012.

Knabe J., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. J. Ciszewski, Warszawa 2021.

Krüger P., Codex Iustinianus, Berolini 1877.

Kucia B., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. M. Fras, Warszawa 2018.

Kursa S., Testator i formy testamentu w rzymskim prawie justyniańskim, Warszawa 2017.

Kuźmicka-Sulikowska J., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. E. Gniewek, Warszawa 2021.

Lanza C., Impedimenti del giudice. Alcuni modelli di “diritto classico”, “Bullettino dell’Istituto di Diritto Romano” 1987, no 90.

Litewski W., Rzymskie prawo prywatne [Roman Private Law], Warszawa 1999.

Longchamps de Bérier F., Law of Succession, Warszawa 2011.

López-Rendo Rodríguez C., Testamentos y cuestiones sucesorias en el Covid-19, “Revista Abogados de Familia” 2020, no 103.

Marezoll G.L., Über die bei der Testamentserrichtung zu beobachtende Einheit des Ortes, des Tages, der Zeit des Rechtsactes, “Zeitschrift für Civilrecht und Prozeß” 1831, no 4.

Mazzini I., La malattia conseguenza e metafora del peccato nel mondo antico, pagano e Cristiano, [in:] Cultura e promozione umana. La cura del cuerpo e dello spirito nell'antichità classica e nei primi secoli cristiani. Un magistero ancora attuale?, Atti del I Conv. Intern. (Troina, 29 ottobre-1 novembre 1997), E. Dal Covolo e I. Gianetto (ed.), Troina 1998.

Moszyńska A., Geneza prawa spadkowego w polskim kodeksie cywilnym z 1964 roku [Genesis of Inheritance Law in the Polish Civil Code of 1964], Toruń 2019.

Muñoz Catalán E., Aplicación jurídica del testamentum tempore pestis o testamento en caso de pandemia como la generada actualmente por el coronavirus, “Foro, Revista De Ciencias Jurídicas Y Sociales, Nueva época” 2020, vol. 23.

Niezbecka E., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. A. Kidyba, Warszawa 2015.

Osajda K., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. K. Osajda, Warszawa 2021.

Paura R., L’ermeneutica delle epidemie nel pensiero Cristiano e l’idea del Dio Punitore, “Orbis Idearum” 2020, no 8.1.

Pazdan M., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. K. Pietrzykowski, Warszawa 2021.

Piątowski J.S., Kordasiewicz B., Prawo spadkowe. Zarys wykładu [Inheritance law. Outline of the lecture], Warszawa 2011.

Piętak L., Prawo spadkowe rzymskie [Roman Inheritance Law], vol. 1, Lwów 1882.

Ramón-Fernández F., El coronavirus, el testamento en situación de epidemia y el uso de las TICS en el derecho español, “Rivista de Derecho Privado” 2021, no 40.

Rüfner T., Testamentary formalities in Roman law, [in:] Comparative Succession Law, vol. 1, Testamentary formalities, eds. K.C. Reid, M.J. Dé Waal, R. Zimmermann, Oxford University Press, 2011.

Scott S.P., The Civil Law, XIII-XIV, Cincinnati 1932.

Sesta M., Codice delle successioni e donazioni, vol. I, Giuffré Editore 2011.

Serrano Chamorro E., Covid-19. Testamento ológrafo. Testamento ante testigos, “Rivista de Derecho Civil” 2020, no 7.4.

Siems H., Bemerkungen zu sunnis und morbus sonticus. Zum Problem des Fortwirkens des römischen Recht im früher Mittelalter, “Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung” 1986, no 103.

Skowrońska-Bocian E., Wierciński J., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. J. Gudowski, Warszawa 2017.

Sobczyk M., Siła wyższa w rzymskim prawie prywatnym [Force Majeure in Roman Private Law], Toruń 2005.

Suder W., Gniew bogów. Etiologia religijna epidemii w Republice Rzymskiej [Wrath of the gods. Religious aetiology of an epidemic in the Roman Republic], “Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis”, Prawo 2008, no 3063.

Suder W., Et forte annus pestibus erat: Epidemie w Republice Rzymskiej [Epidemics in the Roman Republic], Wrocław 2007.

Tellegen-Couperus O., Testamentary succession in the constitutions of Diocletian, Zutphen 1982.

Vinci M., Il testamento redatto in tempo di malattia contagiosa: radici romanistiche e letture attualizzanti, “Bullettino dell’Istituto di Diritto Romano” 2020, no 114.

Waszczuk, Szczególne formy testamentu w prawie włoskim [Special Forms of a Will in Italian Law], „Zeszyty Prawnicze” 2007, no 7.1.

Willems C., Zwischen Infektionsschutz und Schutz des Erblasserwillens: Das sogennante testamentis tempore pestis conditum, “Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung” 2021, no 138.

Witczak H., Kawałko A., Prawo spadkowe [Inheritance Law], Warszawa 2014.

Wójcik S., Zoll F., System Prawa Prywatnego [System of Private Law], vol. 10, Prawo spadkowe [Inheritance law] ed. B. Kordasiewicz, Warszawa 2009.

Załucki M., Preparation of wills in times of Covid-19 Pandemic - selected observation, “Journal of Modern Science” 2020, no 2/45.

Załucki M., Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz [Civil Code. Commentary], ed. M. Załucki, Warszawa 2020.

Downloads

Published

2022-12-30

How to Cite

A Will Made During an Epidemic – Roman testamentum pestis tempore condictum and Selected Modern Regulations. (2022). Miscellanea Historico-Iuridica, 21(2), 11-36. https://miscellanea.uwb.edu.pl/article/view/640

Similar Articles

1-10 of 54

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.