GUARDIANSHIP IN ROMAN LAW

Abstract

This paper is focused on guardianship in Roman law. In order to make the legal institute
of guardianship easier to understand, in the first part of the paper, we explain the term
of guardianship and provide a classification of guardianship (i.e., tutelage - tutela and
curatorship - cura). The second part of the paper gives a detailed explanation of tutelage, after
which there follow explanations of the tutelage of juveniles, the rights and duties of tutors,
limitations of tutor rights, the tutelage upon women, forms of tutelage (tutela legitima, tutela
testamentaria, tutela dativa), and the end of tutelage. The third part of the paper is dedicated
to the other form of guardianship – curatorship – and its various forms (cura furiosi, cura
prodigi, cura minorum). Other forms of guardianship are elaborated in the fourth part. The
fifth part of the paper presents the effects of custody placement and gives some information
about legal acts and suretyship, intercession and SC Vellaeanum. The sixth part gives the
analysis of today’s guardianship (guardianship of children, guardianship of adults and special
guardianship). The last part gives our concluding remarks.