The jurisprudence of Catholic canon law is the complex of legal theory, traditions, and interpretative principles of Catholic canon law. In the Latin Church, the jurisprudence of canon law was founded by Gratian in the 1140s with his Decretum. In the Eastern Catholic canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Photios holds a place similar to that of Gratian for the West.
Much of the legislative style was adapted from that of Roman law, especially the Justinianic Corpus Juris Civilis. As a result, Roman ecclesiastical courts tend to follow the Roman law style of continental Europe with some variation. After the fall of the Roman Empire and up until the revival of Roman law in the 11th century, canon law served as the most important unifying force among the local systems in the civil law tradition. The canonists introduced into post-Roman Europe the concept of a higher law of ultimate justice, over and above the momentary law of the state.
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