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Why was Roman law disorganized when Justinian I became emperor?

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Mosaic detail of Emperor Justinian I with a jeweled crown and halo, wearing ornate robes, from the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. — Justinian I Justinian I, detail of a mosaic in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

When Justinian I ascended to the throne in 527 CE, Roman law was in a state of profound disarray, categorized into two massive, unorganized bodies: the "old law" and the "new law."1

The old law comprised statutes from the Republic and early Empire, decrees of the Senate, and the writings of authorized jurists. This collection suffered from several critical issues:
* Many records were lost, scarce, or of questionable authenticity.1
* The sheer volume of material made it prohibitively expensive and difficult to maintain in complete collections.1
* The writings contained numerous contradictions and inconsistencies.1

The new law, consisting of imperial ordinances (constitutions) promulgated during the middle and later stages of the empire, was equally disorganized. These ordinances were extremely numerous, often contradictory, and lacked a comprehensive, unified collection.1

To address this, Justinian commissioned the creation of the Corpus Juris Civilis, which systematically collected, clarified, and simplified these laws, purging them of inconsistencies to establish a coherent legal foundation for the empire.12