Judicial Dictionary
Originally the books of law collected under Justinian, between CE 529 and 565: the Codex Constitutionum, or the code of constitutional law; the Digest (also known as the Pandects), the collection of precedents from earlier decisions; the Institutes, or summary of the whole for students; and the Novels, or laws made after the collection. In the sense used by Justice Holmes here, it refers merely to the whole body of law.
