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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.1.14.pr-13.1.14.3

Condictio for Conditionally Bequeathed Thefts and Parts

Passage 2062 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Julianus discusses the ownership of the condictio when a stolen slave is bequeathed under a condition and the effect of the condition's fulfillment after the joinder of issue, as well as the scope of recovery and available exceptions for stolen oxen, grapes, and their derivatives.

[IULIANUS libro uicensimo secundo digestorum. ] §13.1.14.prSi seruus furtiuus sub condicione legatus fuerit, pendente ea heres condictionem habebit et, si lite contestata condicio exstiterit, absolutio sequi debebit, perinde ac si idem seruus sub condicione liber esse iussus fuisset et lite contestata condicio exstitisset: nam nec petitoris iam interest hominem recipere et res sine dolo malo furis eius esse desiit.
[JULIANUS, in his twenty-second book of the Digests.] If a stolen slave has been bequeathed under a condition, the heir will have the condictio while the condition is pending, and if the condition is fulfilled after the joinder of issue (lite contestata), an acquittal must follow, just as if the same slave had been ordered to be free under a condition and the condition had been fulfilled after the joinder of issue: for it is no longer of interest to the plaintiff to receive the slave, and the thing has ceased to be his without any malice (dolus malus) on the part of the thief.
quod si pendente condicione iudicaretur, iudex aestimare debebit, quanti emptorem inuenerit.
But if judgment should be given while the condition is pending, the judge must estimate for how much he could find a buyer.
§13.1.14.1Cauere autem ex hac actione petitor ei cum quo agitur non debebit.
However, the plaintiff will not be obliged to give security under this action to the defendant.
§13.1.14.2Boue subrepto et occiso condictio et bouis et corii et carnis domino competit, scilicet si et corium et caro contrectata fuerint: cornua quoque condicentur.
When an ox is stolen and killed, the owner has a condictio for the ox, the hide, and the meat, provided, of course, that both the hide and the meat have been appropriated: the horns also can be recovered by condictio.
sed si dominus condicione bouis pretium consecutus fuerit et postea aliquid eorum, de quibus supra dictum est, condicet, omnimodo exceptione summouetur.
But if the owner has obtained the value of the ox by condictio and afterwards sues for any of those things mentioned above, he is completely barred by an exception.
contra si corium condixerit et pretium eius consecutus bouem condicet, offerente fure pretium bouis detracto pretio corii doli mali exceptione summouebitur.
Conversely, if he has brought a condictio for the hide and obtained its price, and then brings a condictio for the ox, he will be barred by an exception of dolus malus if the thief offers the price of the ox minus the price of the hide.
§13.1.14.3Idem iuris est uuis subreptis: nam et mustum et uinacia iure condici possunt.
The same rule of law applies to stolen grapes: for both the must (grape juice) and the grape skins can lawfully be recovered by condictio.

Notes

  1. §13.1.14.prlite contestata — Ablative absolute composed of the noun 'lis' and the participle 'contestata', referring to the joinder of issue (litis contestatio), which was a critical stage in Roman civil formulation procedure.
  2. §13.1.14.prpetitoris ... interest — The impersonal verb 'interest' takes the genitive of the person who has an interest, which explains the use of the genitive 'petitoris' (the plaintiff) here.
  3. §13.1.14.prres sine dolo malo furis eius esse desiit — The pronoun 'eius' can be taken either as a possessive genitive predicate with 'esse' meaning 'ceased to be his' (belonging to the heir/testator due to the fulfillment of the bequest condition), or as a demonstrative modifying 'res' ('that thing'). Here, it denotes that the ownership transferred to a third party upon the fulfillment of the condition, meaning it was no longer the heir's property, through no fault of the thief.
  4. §13.1.14.2condicet... summouebitur — The coordination of the future indicative in the conditional clause ('si ... condicet') and the future indicative in the apodosis ('summouebitur'). This is a standard tense combination in Latin legal texts to describe a hypothetical future lawsuit and its subsequent legal outcome as a certain consequence.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.1.14.pr-13.1.14.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.1.14.pr-13.1.14.3

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