Definition and Citations:
In the civil law. A species of imperial constitution, being a judgment or
sentence given by the emperor upon hearing of a cause, (quod impcrator cog- noscens decrevit.) Inst. 1, 2, 6.
In canon law. Au ecclesiastical law, in contradistinction to a secular law, (lex.) 1
Mackeld. Civil Law, p. 81,