1. Roman law. The final agreement of the parties to a suit on the formula the praetor would issue to the judex.
— Also termed contestatio litis. See FORMULA.
“Both parties being present, or represented, before the praetor, the plaintiff stated the nature of his claim and asked for an action. It lay in the discretion of the praetor to give or to refuse it…. If, in the event, the praetor refused any action at all, or any action which the plaintiff was willing to accept, the matter was at an end…. If, on the other hand, subject to the direction and approval of the praetor, the parties agreed upon the issues to be referred … [a] document framed in identical terms was issued to the judex by the praetor as his authority to act. This ceremonial in which three persons concurred (plaintiff, defendant, praetor) was the litis contestatio.” R.W. Lee, The Elements of Roman Law 179–80 (4th ed. 1956).
2. Hist. A contested point in a lawsuit; a litigable issue developed by the litigants’ alternating statements.
3. CONTESTATION OF SUIT.
