Definition of Contestatio Litis

In Roman law. Contestation of suit; the framing an issue; joinder in issue. The formal act of both the parties with which the proceedings in jure were closed when they led to a judicial investigation, and by which the neighbors whom the parties brought with them were called to testlfy. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 219. In old English law. Coming to an issue; the issue so produced. Crabb, Eng. Law, 216. Contestatio litis eget terminos contradictorios. An issue requires terms of contradiction. Jenk. Cent. 117. To constitute an issue, there must be an affirmative on one side and a negative on the other.