Summary

One of the general objectives of judicial proceedings is to ensure restoration of justice. This presumes that a judgment made during the proceedings is lawful both by its form and content. If one of such preconditions is not met, the proceedings have failed to achieve their objective. In order to prevent the entry into force of a judgment that contains mistakes, a party to the proceedings is entitled to file an appeal. The possibility to appeal in civil proceedings originates from Roman law. This article seeks to answer the question which tool of appeal was the first, either appellatio, which has given the name to the modern ‘appeal’, or provocatio, which is unknown in the sense of an appeal.

The author believes that it was possible to use provocatio also in some civil matters in addition to criminal matters. Appellatio, however, could also be used in civil matters not covered by the right to file a provocatio. According to the description of the sources, provocatio was possible both before and after the judgment.

The author denies the possibility of applying the appellatio created in the course of extraordinary proceedings also in a formula procedure. Jurisdiction was not delegated in the formula procedure, while it was definitely necessary to delegate jurisdiction to make a judgment in appellatio. It was possible to appeal by provocatio in a formula procedure.