- Source
- Digesta Iustiniani Augusti. Mommsen, Theodor & Krueger, Paul, editors. Berlin: Weidmann, 1870.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.1.15.pr-5.1.15.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The text defines the scope of liability when a filius familias acting as a judge makes the litigation his own, and outlines the conditions under which a judge is deemed to have done so through malice, favoritism, animosity, or corruption.
[IDEM libro uicensimo primo ad edictum.]
[THE SAME, in the twenty-first book on the Edict.]
Filius familias iudex si litem suam faciat,1 in tantam quantitatem tenetur, quae tunc in peculio2 fuit, cum sententiam dicebat.
If a filius familias acting as a judge should make the litigation his own, he is liable to the extent of the amount that was in his peculium at the time he rendered the judgment.
Iudex tunc litem suam facere intellegitur, cum dolo malo in fraudem legis sententiam dixerit (dolo malo autem uidetur hoc facere, si euidens arguatur eius uel gratia uel inimicitia uel etiam sordes), ut ueram aestimationem litis praestare cogatur.3
A judge is understood to make the litigation his own when he has rendered a judgment with malice aforethought in fraud of the law (moreover, he is deemed to do this with malice aforethought if his obvious favoritism, animosity, or even corruption is proved), so that he is compelled to pay the true valuation of the litigation.
- 5.1.15.prlitem suam faciat
The phrase 'litem suam facere' (to make the litigation one's own) is a technical legal term referring to a judge incurring personal liability for a quasi-delict by rendering an improper or biased decision. The present subjunctive 'faciat' expresses a hypothetical condition.
- 5.1.15.prin peculio
Since a 'filius familias' (a son under paternal power) could not hold independent property, his liability for making the litigation his own was limited to the amount of his 'peculium' (allowance or special property managed by the son with the paterfamilias' permission) at the time of judgment.
- 5.1.15.1ut ueram aestimationem litis praestare cogatur
The conjunction 'ut' introduces a consecutive (result) clause, describing the legal consequence that follows when a judge acts with malice, namely, being compelled to pay the actual value of the suit.