拜占廷《农业法》所反映的村社自由民的法权

On the Legal Rights of the Free Inhabitants of the Byzantine Village-community

拜占廷《农业法》是关于中期拜占廷帝国村社的重要资料之一,本文重点研究《农业法》所反映的村社自由民的法权。根据《农业法》,在拜占廷村社,自由人状况复杂多样,贫富不均,谋生方式各异,但是他们具有平等的法权。本文将从所有权、契约责任和私犯责任三个方面讨论拜占廷村社自由民的法权。公平原则是《农业法》保护权益和认定责任的基本原则。《农业法》所体现出的法律概念、法律原则和法律精神与《查士丁尼法典》一致。

The Farmer’s Law (or Rural Code, Noμos γεwp γτκos) is a crucial document of the village-community in the middle period of the Byzantine Empire. This paper focuses on the legal rights of the free inhabitants of the Byzantine village-community. According to the Farmer's Law, the free inhabitants of the Byzantine village-community were different in their economic situation and their ways of making living, but they were equal on the legal rights in three aspects: proprietorship, contract responsibility and criminal responsibility. Justice is the basic principle of the Farmer's Law to protect the rights and judge the responsibility of the free inhabitants. The Farmer's Law is consistent with Justinian Codex with respect to its concepts, principles and spirits.