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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.3.8.pr

Assessment by Plaintiff's Oath for a Guardian's Contumacy

Passage 1947 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Marcellus discusses a case where a guardian refuses to return property to a ward, responding that the condemnation should be based on the amount sworn to under oath by the plaintiff rather than the actual value, in order to punish the guardian's contumacy.

[MARCELLUS libro octauo digestorum. ] §12.3.8.prTutor rem adulti, quam possidet, restituere ei non uult: quaero, utrum quanti res est an quanti in litem iuratum fuerit condemnari debet.
[MARCELLUS, Eighth Book of the Digests.] A guardian is unwilling to restore to an adult a thing belonging to the latter which the guardian possesses: I ask whether he ought to be condemned for the actual value of the thing, or for the amount sworn to in the lawsuit.
respondi: non est aequum pretio, id est quanti res est, litem aestimari, cum et contumacia punienda sit et arbitrio potius domini rei pretium statuendum sit potestate petitori in litem iurandi concessa.
I replied: It is not equitable for the lawsuit to be estimated at the price, that is, at the actual value of the thing, since both the contumacy ought to be punished, and the price should rather be determined by the discretion of the owner of the thing, the power of swearing in the lawsuit having been granted to the plaintiff.

Notes

  1. §12.3.8.prquanti — quanti is a genitive of value (genitiuus pretii), serving as the predicate of est and iuratum fuerit in the indirect question. It contrasts the actual market value (quanti res est) with the amount sworn to under oath in court (quanti in litem iuratum fuerit).
  2. §12.3.8.prpotestate petitori in litem iurandi concessa — An ablative absolute construction, meaning "the power (potestate) of swearing in the lawsuit (in litem iurandi) having been granted (concessa) to the plaintiff (petitori)." petitori is a dative depending on concessa. The gerund iurandi is in the genitive, modifying potestate.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.3.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.3.8.pr

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