Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/moxpjhz86m
Lectus in Dubrovnik Law of the High Middle Ages
Mirza Hebib
; University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Law, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
According to Dubrovnik law, the spouses had no right to mutual succession. A spouse who was not designated as successor by the last will or contract on the disposition of property post mortem, was materially secured by law through the institute of lectus.
Meaning ‘bed' in the literal sense, in various parts of the eastern Adriatic and the Mediterranean in general, including Dubrovnik, this legal term designated the right of the widow or widower to enjoy the property of the spouse on condition of remaining widowed.
The analysis of the provisions of the Statute of Dubrovnik and the available legal practice have shown how lectus in Dubrovnik law substantially and functionally virtually overlaps with the concept of ususfructus in Roman law. However, considering that its
implementation was confined exclusively to the material rights of the widow or widower, as well as the double condition accompanying it (besides Roman salva rerum substantia, an obligation to preserve widowhood), it is clear that lectus is not mere ususfructus, but the right sui generis.
Comparative analysis has drawn attention to the potential aspects of the shaping of such an institute. The results show that lectus developed independently in different communities permeated by the Roman legal tradition. Given that none of the considered solutions (Byzantine law, Venetian law, Langobard law, etc.) fully correspond to that of Dubrovnik and other eastAdriatic cities from Zadar to Budva, as for now it is not possible to establish whether the concept of succesion between the spouses with the obligation of remaining widowed was the result of the original Byzantine reception or early reception from the West. Hence, the process of legal reception and the shaping of this institute is not entirely clear.
Keywords
Dubrovnik, Statute of Dubrovnik; Dubrovnik law; Roman law; Roman legal tradition; succession law; rights in rem; family law; lectus; ususfructus
Hrčak ID:
324048
URI
Publication date:
18.12.2024.
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