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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.6.15.pr-12.6.15.2

Scope of Condictio: Accessions, Fruits, and Possession

Passage 1990 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the nature of the recovery of undue payment (condictio indebiti), explaining the scope and conditions of recovery regarding accessions, fruits, possession of another's money, and things subject to a third-party usufruct.

[PAULUS libro decimo ad Sabinum. ] §12.6.15.prIndebiti soluti condictio naturalis est et ideo etiam quod rei solutae accessit, uenit in condictionem, ut puta partus qui ex ancilla natus sit uel quod alluuione accessit: immo et fructus, quos is cui solutum est bona fide percepit, in condictionem uenient.
[PAULUS, On Sabinus, Book 10.] The action for recovery of an undue payment is natural, and therefore also whatever has acceded to the thing paid comes into the recovery, as for example, the offspring born of a female slave, or what has acceded by alluvion; nay, even the fruits which he to whom payment was made has gathered in good faith will come into the recovery.
§12.6.15.1Sed et si nummi alieni dati sint, condictio competet, ut uel possessio eorum reddatur: quemadmodum si falso existimans possessionem me tibi debere alicuius rei tradidissem, condicerem.
But even if the money of another has been given, the action for recovery will lie, so that at least the possession of it may be restored; just as if, falsely thinking that I owed you the possession of some thing, I had delivered it, I would bring an action for recovery.
sed et si possessionem tuam fecissem ita, ut tibi per longi temporis praescriptionem auocari non possit, etiam sic recte tecum per indebitam condictionem agerem.
But even if I had made the possession yours in such a way that it cannot be taken away from you by long-term prescription, even so I would rightly sue you by the action for recovery of what is not due.
§12.6.15.2Sed et si usus fructus in re soluta alienus sit, deducto usu fructu a te condicam.
But also if the usufruct in the thing paid belongs to another, I shall bring my action for recovery against you, deducting the usufruct.

Notes

  1. 12.6.15.prrei solutae — rei solutae is the dative case governed by accessit (from accedo, 'to accede, be added to'). Although it can be translated with a genitive sense ('addition of the thing paid'), syntactically it represents 'what has acceded to the thing paid'.
  2. 12.6.15.1ut uel possessio eorum reddatur — uel is used here not as a disjunctive conjunction, but adverbially meaning 'at least' or 'at any rate'. It indicates that even if ownership of another's money does not pass, its possession does, and thus at least that possession should be restored.
  3. 12.6.15.1falso existimans possessionem me tibi debere — An accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction introduced by existimans ('thinking'). me is the subject accusative of the infinitive debere, while possessionem is its direct object, with alicuius rei being the genitive modifying possessionem.
  4. 12.6.15.2deducto usu fructu — An ablative absolute construction formed by the perfect passive participle deducto and the noun usu fructu (both in the ablative singular). It expresses the condition or premise: 'with the usufruct having been deducted'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.6.15.pr-12.6.15.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.6.15.pr-12.6.15.2

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