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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §16.3.14.pr-16.3.14.1

Restoration to Co-heirs and Discharge upon Natural Loss

Passage 2419 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text addresses how a deposited thing should be restored to present co-heirs when the depositor dies leaving multiple heirs, and states that the defendant should be acquitted if the thing perishes by its own nature before judgment.

[GAIUS libro nono ad edictum prouinciale. ] §16.3.14.prSi plures heredes exstiterint ei qui deposuerit, dicitur, si maior pars adierit, restituendam rem praesentibus: maiorem autem partem non ex numero utique personarum, sed ex magnitudine portionum hereditariarum intellegendam: cautela idonea reddenda.
[GAIUS libro nono ad edictum prouinciale.] If several heirs have existed for the person who deposited, it is said that, if the major part has entered upon the inheritance, the thing must be restored to those who are present; but that the major part is to be understood not by the number of persons in any case, but by the magnitude of the hereditary portions; a suitable security must be given.
§16.3.14.1Siue autem cum ipso apud quem deposita est actum fuerit siue cum herede eius et sua natura res ante rem iudicatam interciderit, ueluti si homo mortuus fuerit, Sabinus et Cassius absolui debere eum cum quo actum est dixerunt, quia aequum esset naturalem interitum ad actorem pertinere, utique cum interitura esset ea res et si restituta esset actori.
But whether the action has been brought against the person himself with whom the thing was deposited, or against his heir, and the thing has perished by its own nature before judgment, for example if a slave has died, Sabinus and Cassius said that the defendant ought to be acquitted, because it was equitable that a natural loss should pertain to the plaintiff, especially since that thing would have perished even if it had been restored to the plaintiff.

Notes

  1. 16.3.14.pradierit — adierit refers to entering upon the inheritance (adire hereditatem), with the object hereditatem being omitted.
  2. 16.3.14.prpraesentibus — praesentibus is a substantivized participle meaning "those who are present". Here it refers to the co-heirs who are actually present to claim the restoration of the property.
  3. 16.3.14.1ante rem iudicatam — res iudicata refers to the final judgment. Here, the phrase indicates the phase of the trial after the joinder of issue (litis contestatio) but before the final judgment is rendered.
  4. 16.3.14.1et si restituta esset actori — A concessive conditional clause introduced by et si (even if). The subjunctive pluperfect restituta esset is used as a subordinate clause in indirect speech (after dixerunt... quia...), representing a past counterfactual condition (even if it had been restored to the plaintiff, it would have perished anyway).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §16.3.14.pr-16.3.14.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:16.3.14.pr-16.3.14.1

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