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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.3.39.pr

Non-Extension of Rules Established by Error and Custom

Passage 58 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Celsus argues that a legal rule established not by reason but by error and subsequent custom should not be applied to other similar cases.

[CELSUS libro XXIII digestorum. ] §1.3.39.prQuod non ratione introductum, sed errore primum, deinde consuetudine optentum est, in aliis similibus non optinet.
[CELSUS, Digests, book 23] That which has been introduced not by reason, but at first by error and then established by custom, does not hold in other similar cases.

Notes

  1. §1.3.39.prQuod — Relative pronoun in the neuter singular nominative. The antecedent (such as id) is omitted, forming a nominal clause that serves as the subject of the main verb optinet.
  2. §1.3.39.proptinet — The third-person singular present active indicative of obtineo (to maintain, hold), with the spelling variant of 'p' for 'b'. Here it is used intransitively to mean 'to hold good' or 'to have the force of law'. The optentum est in the relative clause is the perfect passive of the same verb.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.3.39.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.3.39.pr

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