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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.1.5.pr

Loss of the Thing Owed and Debtor's Liability

Passage 1860 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the allocation of risk for the loss of a thing to be delivered, explaining that when determining whether the loss was due to the debtor's fault, one must consider not only physical control or malice but also whether there was any just cause by which the debtor should have known of the obligation to deliver.

[POMPONIUS libro uicensimo secundo ad Sabinum. ] §12.1.5.prQuod te mihi dare oporteat si id postea perierit, quam per te factum erit quominus id mihi dares, tuum fore id detrimentum constat.
[POMPONIUS, On Sabinus, book 22] It is well established that if that which you ought to give to me should later perish, after it has been brought about by you that you could not give it to me, the loss will be yours.
sed cum quaeratur, an per te factum sit, animaduerti debebit, non solum in potestate tua fuerit id nec ne aut dolo malo feceris quominus esset uel fuerit nec ne, sed etiam si aliqua iusta causa sit, propter quam intellegere deberes te dare oportere.
But when the question is asked whether it has been brought about by you, it must be considered not only whether it was in your power or not, or whether or not you acted with malice to prevent it from existing or having existed, but also whether there is some just cause by reason of which you ought to have understood that you were bound to give it.

Notes

  1. §12.1.5.prpostea ... quam — The adverb 'postea' and the conjunction 'quam' are separated by tmesis, functioning together as the single conjunction 'posteaquam' (after).
  2. §12.1.5.prper te factum erit quominus — The construction 'facere/fieri quominus' with the subjunctive indicates prevention ('to bring it about that ... not'). Combined with 'per te', it means 'it is brought about by your agency that you cannot give'.
  3. §12.1.5.prsi — In the parallel structure 'non solum ... sed etiam ...', 'si' introduces an indirect question ('whether'), corresponding to 'an' in the preceding clause. Although it could be interpreted as a conditional clause ('if'), taking it as an indirect question fits more naturally as the object of 'animaduerti debebit'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.1.5.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.1.5.pr

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