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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.7.18.pr

Guarantees of Property Restitution in Adrogating a Ward

Passage 120 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is established that as a condition for the adrogation of a ward, the prospective adopter must guarantee to a public slave the restoration of any acquired property to those who would have inherited it had the ward remained in his original status.

[MARCELLUS libro uicensimo sexto digestorum. ] §1.7.18.prNon aliter enim uoluntati eius, qui adrogare pupillum uolet, si causam eius ob alia probabit, subscribendum erit, quam si cauerit seruo publico se restituturum ea, quae ex bonis eius consecutus fuerit, illis, ad quos res peruentura esset, si adrogatus permansisset in suo statu.
[MARCELLUS in the twenty-sixth book of the Digests.] subscription is not to be made to the wish of him who wishes to adrogate a ward, even if he should prove his case on other grounds, otherwise than if he has given security to a public slave that he will restore what he has obtained from the ward's property to those to whom the property would have come if the adrogated person had remained in his own status.

Notes

  1. §1.7.18.prsubscribendum erit — An impersonal passive construction with the gerundive, taking the dative uoluntati. It refers to the signing or giving of consent/approval by the authority (emperor or magistrate) to the petition (wish) of the prospective adopter.
  2. §1.7.18.prsi causam eius ob alia probabit — The subject of probabit is the prospective adopter (qui ... uolet). This conditional clause carries a concessive nuance: "even if he should prove the justification (of the adrogation) on other grounds" (such as his motives or financial status).
  3. §1.7.18.prcauerit seruo publico — cavere takes the dative and means "to give security / make a formal promise (by contract) to someone." The public slave (seruo publico) acts as the counterparty (stipulator) to the formal contract (stipulatio) as a public representative, because at the time of adrogation, the future recipients of the restored property (the ward's potential heirs) cannot yet be identified.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.7.18.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.7.18.pr

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