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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.3.4.pr

Exclusion of Rare and Exceptional Cases from Legislation

Passage 23 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Celsus states the principle that laws are not established on the basis of isolated, exceptional cases that might only occur by chance.

[CELSUS libro quinto digestorum. ] §1.3.4.prEx his, quae forte uno aliquo casu accidere possunt, iura non constituuntur:
[CELSUS on the Digest, Book V] Laws are not established on the basis of those things which by chance can happen in some single case.

Notes

  1. §1.3.4.prEx his — The preposition ex indicates the basis or source from which laws are established, translated as 'on the basis of' or 'from'. The ablative plural demonstrative pronoun his serves as the antecedent of the following relative clause quae...possunt.
  2. §1.3.4.pruno aliquo casu — Ablative of circumstance or manner. The combination of the adjective unus ('one') and the ablative of the indefinite pronoun aliquis ('some, a certain') emphasizes the exceptional nature of 'some single, isolated case'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.3.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.3.4.pr

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