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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §11.3.9.pr-11.3.9.3

Actions and Valuation when Joint Owners Corrupt a Slave

Passage 1779 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the liability of a joint owner who corrupts a common slave, the availability of direct and analogous actions for the usufructuary and owner, and the scope of valuation for damages.

[ULPIANUS libro uicensimo tertio ad edictum. ] §11.3.9.prSi quis seruum communem meum et suum corruperit, apud Iulianum libro nono digestorum quaeritur, an hac actione teneri possit, et ait teneri eum socio: praeterea poterit et communi diuidundo et pro socio, si socii sint, teneri, ut Iulianus ait.
[ULPIANUS, from the twenty-third book on the Edict.] If anyone corrupts a slave owned in common by me and himself, it is asked in Julian, in the ninth book of the Digests, whether he can be held liable under this action, and he says that he is held liable to his partner; moreover, he can be held liable both by the action for dividing common property and by the action on partnership, if they are partners, as Julian says.
sed cur deteriorem facit Iulianus condicionem socii, si cum socio agat, quam si cum extraneo agit? nam qui cum extraneo agit, siue recepit siue corruperit agere potest, qui cum socio, sine alternatione, id est si corrupit.
But why does Julian make the condition of a partner worse if he sues his partner than if he sues a stranger? For he who sues a stranger can sue whether the stranger received or corrupted the slave, but he who sues his partner, without alternative, that is, only if he corrupted him.
nisi forte non putauit Iulianus hoc cadere in socium: nemo enim suum recipit.
Unless perhaps Julian thought that this does not apply to a partner: for no one receives his own property.
sed si celandi animo recepit, potest defendi teneri eum.
But if he received him with the intention of concealing him, it can be maintained that he is held liable.
§11.3.9.1Si in seruo ego habeam usum fructum, tu proprietatem, si quidem a me sit deterior factus, poteris mecum experiri, si tu id feceris, ego agere utili actione possum; ad omnes enim corruptelas haec actio pertinet et interesse fructuarii uidetur bonae frugi seruum esse, in quo usum fructum habet.
If I have the usufruct in a slave, and you have the ownership, if indeed he is made worse by me, you will be able to proceed against me; if you have done it, I can sue by an analogous action; for this action pertains to all corruptions, and it seems to be in the interest of the usufructuary that the slave in whom he has the usufruct be of good character.
et si forte alius eum receperit uel corruperit, utilis actio fructuario competit.
And if perhaps someone else has received or corrupted him, an analogous action is available to the usufructuary.
§11.3.9.2Datur autem actio quanti ea res erit eius dupli.
Moreover, the action is granted for double the value of the matter.
§11.3.9.3Sed quaestionis est, aestimatio utrum eius dumtaxat fieri debeat, quod seruus in corpore uel in animo damni senserit, hoc est quanto uilior seruus factus sit, an uero et ceterorum.
But it is a matter of question whether the valuation ought to be made only of that damage which the slave has suffered in body or mind, that is, by how much less valuable the slave has been made, or indeed of other things as well.
et Neratius ait tanti condemnandum corruptorem, quanti seruus ob id, quod subpertus sit, minoris sit.
And Neratius says that the corrupter is to be condemned in as much as the slave is worth less on account of having been corrupted.

Notes

  1. 11.3.9.prsocio — Dative of reference or indirect object, meaning 'to his partner'. In the clause `et ait teneri eum socio` which follows the impersonal construction `quaeritur, an... possit`, the subject of `ait` is Julian, and `eum` refers to the partner who corrupted the common slave.
  2. 11.3.9.prsine alternatione, id est si corrupit — 'Without alternative, that is, only if he corrupted him.' The formula of the action for corrupting a slave typically contains alternative options: 'whether he received or corrupted' (siue recepit siue corruperit). However, Julian argues that between partners, 'receiving' (concealing) is conceptually impossible ('for no one receives his own property'), meaning the action is restricted to the case of corruption alone.
  3. 11.3.9.1interesse fructuarii uidetur bonae frugi seruum esse — The impersonal verb `interesse` with the genitive `fructuarii` ('it is in the interest of the usufructuary') takes the accusative and infinitive clause `bonae frugi seruum esse` ('that the slave be of good character') as its logical subject. `bonae frugi` is an indeclinable adjective phrase (originally a dative of purpose/service of frux, meaning 'for good harvest/useful') modifying `seruum`.
  4. 11.3.9.3subpertus sit — A difficult form found in the manuscript tradition. It is generally understood to mean 'corrupted' (equivalent to `corruptus sit`) or 'surreptitiously taken' (related to `subreptus`). In context, it refers to the slave having been corrupted, on account of which (ob id) the slave is worth less (minoris sit), defining the measure of damages according to Neratius.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §11.3.9.pr-11.3.9.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:11.3.9.pr-11.3.9.3

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