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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.1.21.pr

Compelling Partial Acceptance and the Praetor's Role

Passage 1876 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the jurists' views on whether a plaintiff should be compelled to accept partial payment or claim only a part of a land, and suggests the praetor acts more humanely by compelling acceptance to reduce litigation.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo octauo digestorum. ] §12.1.21.prQuidam existimauerunt neque eum, qui decem peteret, cogendum quinque accipere et reliqua persequi, neque eum, qui fundum suum diceret, partem dumtaxat iudicio persequi: sed in utraque causa humanius facturus uidetur praetor, si actorem compulerit ad accipiendum id quod offeratur, cum ad officium eius pertineat lites deminuere.
[THE SAME, Digest, Book 48] Certain jurists have thought that neither a person who claims ten should be compelled to accept five and sue for the remainder, nor a person who claims that a tract of land is his should be compelled to sue in court for a part only; but in both cases, the praetor will seem to act more humanely if he compels the plaintiff to accept that which is offered, since it belongs to his office to diminish litigation.

Notes

  1. §12.1.21.prcogendum — An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction in indirect speech where `esse` is omitted. In the parallel structure `neque eum ... cogendum [esse] ... neque eum ... [cogendum esse] ...`, the second `cogendum [esse]` is also omitted. `eum` in both clauses functions as the subject accusative of the passive periphrastic conjugation.
  2. §12.1.21.prhumanius facturus uidetur praetor — `uidetur` is used in a personal construction (nominative with infinitive) with `praetor` as its subject, meaning "the praetor seems likely to act more humanely". `facturus` is a future active participle forming a future infinitive with the omission of `esse`, dependent on `uidetur`.
  3. §12.1.21.prcum ad officium eius pertineat — A `cum` clause with the subjunctive `pertineat` expressing cause ("since..."). The pronoun `eius` refers to the `praetor` (the subject of the main clause), and the infinitive phrase `lites deminuere` ("to diminish litigation") functions as the subject of `pertineat`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.1.21.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.1.21.pr

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