In civil law the sources recognised as authoritative are, primarily, legislation—especially codifications in constitutions or statutes handed by government—and custom. Codifications date back millennia, with one early instance being the Babylonian Codex Hammurabi. Modern civil law techniques basically derive from legal codes issued by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century, which had been rediscovered by eleventh century Italy. Roman law within the days of the Roman Republic and Empire was closely procedural, and lacked a professional authorized class.

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