JUS HONORARIUM. In Civil Law. A name applied to the praetorian edicts and al so to the edicts. of the curiae cediles, when on certain occasions they were published. Inst. 1, 2, 7.
This system of law was simply the usual development of an expanding and elastic ju risprudence, which naturally resulted from the increase in Rome of population and pow er, and the greater complication of her civil ization; Howe, Stud. Civ. L. 10; it was spok en of as having a distinct place by the side, and as the complement, of the jus civile; Sand. Introd. Inst. Just. xxi. It was a system of judge-made law (q. v.) in the proper sense. Its vigorous development was coincident with the formulary procedure, Which was well adapted to give it scope and effect; Sohm, Introd. Rom. L. 178.
Its place and function in the Roman ju risprudence are thus described: "The prm torian law, being a law made by officials, 'jus honorarium,' was opposed to the jus i. e. law, in the strict and proper sense of the term, the law made by the people, de veloped by popular enactments and popular customs. Thus both the jus civile and the
jus honorarium, contained elements of jus gentium, but in the jus honorarium, the in fluence of the jus gentium predominated. The praetorian edict was, in the main, the instru ment by means of which the free principles of jus cequum gained their victory over the older jus strictum. Though at first the edict may merely have served the purpose of giv ing fuller effect to the jus civile, and then of supplementing the jus civile, nevertheless, in the end, borne along by the current of the times, it boldly assumed the function of re forming the civil law." Id. 54.
See JunEx; PR2ETOR.
All magistrates of elevated rank possessed the power of legislating, "jus edicendi," with regard to such matters as fell within their jurisdiction, and the body of rules so estab lished was termed jut: honorarium. But as the jus prcetorium forms son important a part of it, the term jus honorarium is often re stricted to the jus prcetorium.