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Domicilium

A term of Roman law, signifying a man's permanent home. The following is the well-known definition of domicilium given in the Corpus Iuris (Cod. x. 40, 7): “In eo loco singulos habere domicilium non ambigitur, ubi quis larem rerumque ac fortunarum suarum summam constituit, unde rursus non sit discessurus, si nihil avocet, unde cum profectus est peregrinari videtur, quo si rediit peregrinari iam destitit.” In a passage of the Digest a man's home is thus defined (Dig. 1.16, 203): “Sed de ea re constitutum esse (respondit) eam domum unicuique nostrum debere existimari, ubi quisque sedes et tabulas haberet suarumque rerum constitutionem fecisset.” A man acquired domicilium by making a place his residence and intending to remain in it permanently (animus manendi). Domicilium was lost by abandonment, and the question of the existence of domicile was treated as one of fact to be determined by the circumstances of each case.

The conception of domicile has far more important consequences in modern systems of law than in ancient; it is the foundation of a branch of what is sometimes called private international law, but more correctly the conflict of laws.

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