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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.3.10.pr

Oath on Value of Interest for Failure to Produce Documents

Passage 1949 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that, regarding documents not produced, the plaintiff is permitted to take an oath on the value of their interest in their production to determine the condemnation of the defendant, a rule confirmed by a rescript of Emperor Commodus.

[CALLISTRATUS libro primo quaestionum. ] §12.3.10.prIn instrumentis, quae quis non exhibet, actori permittitur in litem iurare, quanti sua interest ea proferri, ut tanti condemnetur reus: idque etiam diuus Commodus rescripsit.
[CALLISTRATUS, First Book of Questions.] In the case of documents which someone does not produce, the plaintiff is permitted to take an oath in court as to how much it concerns him that they be produced, so that the defendant may be condemned in that amount; and the deified Commodus also stated this in a rescript.

Notes

  1. §12.3.10.prquanti sua interest ea proferri — This is a construction of the impersonal verb interest. The word sua is the feminine ablative singular of the possessive pronoun representing the person concerned (referring back to actori). The genitive quanti expresses the degree of interest, while the accusative with infinitive ea proferri ('that they be produced') functions as the logical subject of interest.
  2. §12.3.10.prin litem iurare — A technical legal expression referring to the act of the plaintiff taking an oath regarding the monetary valuation of the disputed matter (the so-called oath in litem, *iusiurandum in litem*).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.3.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.3.10.pr

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