Beweisurkunde oder Dispositivurkunde? – Überlegungen zur Wirkung griechischer Urkunden aus griechischer und römischen Sicht
In: Minima Epigraphica et Papyrologica: 25, 2020
DOI: 10.48255/MinEpig202025010
The discussion about the classification of Greek deeds as probative or dispositive documents goes back to the late 19th
centu
ry.
The term
“dispositive
document”
refers to
a deed
with
substantive
legal
effect
in the sense
of creating
a claim.
By
contrast,
a probative
document
does not
create
a claim,
but only has an evidentiary effect. Today it is
commonly assumed that
Greek deeds
were probative documents, but
in
the way that
any form
of counter-evidence against the
deed
was excluded.
However,
between a
document that creates
a claim
and
a document
that
provides
irrefutable
proof
of
the
claim,
there
hardly
seems to
be a
comprehensible
difference
–
at least
at first
glance.
The classification
of
Greek deeds
as
probative documents becomes plausible
only against the background of
Greek contract law and its characteristics.
Keywords: Greek documents, dispositive/probative documents, irrefutable proof, greek contract law