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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §16.3.11.pr

Discharge of Depositary by Good-Faith Return to a Slave

Passage 2416 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section outlines how a depositary is discharged by returning a deposited thing to a slave, or to one who has been manumitted or alienated, provided that the depositary acts in good faith and without negligence.

[Ulpianus libro quadragensimo primo ad Sabinum. ] §16.3.11.prQuod seruus deposuit, is apud quem depositum est seruo rectissime reddet ex bona fide: nec enim conuenit bonae fidei abnegare id quod quis accepit, sed debebit reddere ei a quo accepit, sic tamen, si sine dolo omni reddat, hoc est, ut nec culpae quidem suspicio sit.
[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo primo ad Sabinum.] What a slave has deposited, the person with whom it was deposited will most rightly return to the slave in accordance with good faith; for it is not consistent with good faith to deny that which one has accepted, but he ought to return it to the person from whom he received it, yet only in such a way, if he returns it without any fraud, that is, so that there is not even a suspicion of negligence.
denique Sabinus hoc explicuit addendo: 'nec ulla causa interuenit, quare putare possit dominum reddi nolle'. hoc ita est, si potuit suspicari, iusta scilicet ratione motus: ceterum sufficit bonam fidem adesse.
Finally, Sabinus explained this by adding: 'and no reason has intervened why he could think that the master does not want it returned.' This is so, if he could have suspected it, moved indeed by a just reason; otherwise, it is sufficient that good faith is present.
sed et si ante eius rei furtum fecerat seruus, si tamen ignorauit is apud quem deposuit uel credidit dominum non inuitum fore huius solutionis, liberari potest: bona enim fides exigitur.
But even if the slave had previously committed a theft of that thing, if nevertheless the person with whom he deposited it did not know, or believed that the master would not be unwilling for this payment to be made, he can be discharged; for good faith is required.
non tantum autem si remanenti in seruitute fuerit solutum, sed etiam si manumisso uel alienato, ex iustis causis liberatio contingit, scilicet si quis ignorans manumissum uel alienatum soluit.
Moreover, discharge occurs not only if payment was made to one remaining in slavery, but also if to one manumitted or alienated, for just causes, namely, if someone, being ignorant that he was manumitted or alienated, made the payment.
idemque et in omnibus debitoribus seruandum Pomponius scribit.
And Pomponius writes that the same is to be observed in the case of all debtors.

Notes

  1. §16.3.11.prQuod seruus deposuit — A relative clause introduced by the neuter singular accusative relative pronoun `quod` with its antecedent omitted, functioning as a noun clause serving as the direct object of the main verb `reddet`.
  2. §16.3.11.prsic tamen, si — A restrictive construction that, accompanied by the conditional clause `si ... reddat`, strictly limits the action or effect to the specified condition ("only on the condition that...").
  3. §16.3.11.prremanenti... manumisso uel alienato — All are dative participles used substantively, functioning as the logical indirect objects (recipients of the payment) of the impersonal passive verb `fuerit solutum` ("payment was made").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §16.3.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:16.3.11.pr

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