Twelve Tables in the context of "Associations in ancient Rome"

Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the Corpus Juris Civilis (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I.

Roman law also denoted the legal system applied in most of Western Europe until the end of the 18th century. In Germany, Roman law practice remained in place longer under the Holy Roman Empire (963–1806). Roman law thus served as a basis for legal practice throughout Western continental Europe, as well as in most former colonies of these European nations, including Latin America, and also in Ethiopia.

According to Roman tradition, it was a Decemvirate (Latin: decemviri consulari imperio legibus scribundis, 'decemvirs with consular power for writing laws') that drew up the Twelve Tables of Roman law.

A iudicium populi (literally "popular trial" or "popular judgement"; also called a iudicium publicum in earlier periods) was a judicial trial, primarily in the Roman Republic, before one of the popular assemblies. In the proceedings the popular assembly and the people that made it up heard evidence from the prosecuting magistrate and the defendant before rendered a final verdict directly. The presiding and prosecuting magistrate were most often aediles or plebeian tribunes but more rarely could also be one of the quaestors, the duumviri perduellionis, or in religious cases the pontifex maximus.

In the early republic these popular trials were believed to be the only means by which large fines or capital punishments could be administered at Rome, since the Twelve Tables and the laws permitting a citizen's appeal to the people and tribunes (provocatio and auxilium, respectively) made it illegal for a magistrate to otherwise punish a citizen. However, by the second century BC they competed for jurisdiction with the quaestiones perpetuae (permanent jury courts) which heard cases on specific types of cases (such as corruption, public violence, and murder) in a more streamlined manner. The emperors' arrogation of provocatio and assertion of exclusive jurisdiction over the criminal law by the early empire made the iudicium populi obsolete.

Inheritance law in ancient Rome was the Roman law that governed the inheritance of property. This law was governed by the civil law (ius civile) of the Twelve Tables and the laws passed by the Roman assemblies, which tended to be very strict, and law of the praetor (ius honorarium, i.e. case law), which was often more flexible. The resulting system was extremely complicated and was one of the central concerns of the whole legal system. Discussion of the laws of inheritance take up eleven of the fifty books in the Digest. 60-70% of all Roman litigation was concerned with inheritance.

In the case of intestacy, Roman inheritance law had no concept of primogeniture and treated male and female children equally. However, in most cases intestacy was avoided by means of a will. Roman law recognised very broad freedom of testation, but wills had to strictly follow correct formulae and phrases in order to be valid. The will had to name an heir. In addition to this, it could name a legal guardian (tutor) for underage children, manumit slaves, and leave legacies to third parties. Over time a separate system of fideicommissa ("trusts"), which allowed greater flexibility, developed alongside the system of wills.