Approximation to the legal nature of the judge’s sportulae: donation, remuneration and fee

Abstract

Justinian I directly affects its regulation although only partially, according to the testimonies currently available, and admits the sportulae as compensation for pediatric judges. From the Visigothic period to the Modern Age, the initial significance of the sportulae was definitively imposed as retribution for the judge, although part of the doctrine qualified it as a fee ever since, without a homogeneous implantation in the Peninsula and Europe. In the Late Middle Ages, a public salary was assigned to judges, at the same time as the amount they receive as sportulae, in response to several procedural actions, and in this area we can affirm the judge's fees were consolidated as such. Nowadays, the contributions of the litigating parties have been regulated as fees, at a national and European level.