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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §16.3.22.pr

Scope of Liability for Heirs Embezzling a Deposit

Passage 2427 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The author discusses the scope of liability when heirs fraudulently embezzle a thing deposited with the deceased, distinguishing between cases involving divisible things like money where the heirs are solvent (liability for respective shares) and cases involving specific goods where joint and several liability (in solidum) arises.

[MARCELLUS libro quinto digestorum. ] §16.3.22.prSi duo heredes rem apud defunctum depositam dolo interuerterint, quodam utique casu in partes tenebuntur: nam si diuiserint decem milia, quae apud defunctum deposita fuerant, et quina milia abstulerint et uterque soluendo est, in partes obstricti erunt: nec enim amplius actoris interest.
[MARCELLUS, Digest, Book 5] If two heirs have fraudulently embezzled a thing deposited with the deceased, they will at any rate in a certain case be liable for their respective shares. For if they have divided ten thousand which had been deposited with the deceased, and have taken five thousand each, and both are solvent, they will be bound for their respective shares; for the plaintiff has no interest beyond that.
quod si lancem conflauerint aut conflari ab aliquo passi fuerint aliaue quae species dolo eorum interuersa fuerit, in solidum conueniri poterunt, ac si ipsi seruandam suscepissent: nam certe uerum est in solidum quemque dolo fecisse et nisi pro solido res non potest restitui.
But if they have melted down a dish, or have allowed it to be melted down by someone else, or if any other specific thing has been embezzled by their fraud, they can be sued for the whole, just as if they themselves had undertaken to keep it. For it is certainly true that each did the fraudulent act with respect to the whole, and the thing cannot be restored except as a whole.
nec tamen absurde sentiet, qui hoc putauerit plane nisi integrae rei restitutione eum, cum quo actum fuerit, liberari non posse, condemnandum tamen, si res non restituetur, pro qua parte heres exstitit.
And yet, he will not think absurdly who supposes that the one against whom the action was brought cannot be released except by the restoration of the whole thing, but that, if the thing is not restored, he is to be condemned only for the share in which he succeeded as heir.

Notes

  1. §16.3.22.prsoluendo est — A business idiom consisting of the third-person singular present 'est' of the verb 'sum' and the dative of the gerund 'soluendo' (from 'solvere'), meaning 'is solvent' or 'has the capacity to pay'. It is singular because the subject is 'uterque' (each of the two).
  2. §16.3.22.practoris interest — The impersonal verb 'interest' takes the genitive to express the person concerned, hence 'actoris' (genitive of 'actor') means 'it concerns the plaintiff' or 'it is in the interest of the plaintiff'.
  3. §16.3.22.prcondemnandum — A gerundive (participle of necessity) functioning as part of an accusative with infinitive construction (with 'esse' omitted) dependent on 'putauerit'. Its logical subject is the preceding accusative 'eum, cum quo actum fuerit' (he against whom the action was brought).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §16.3.22.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:16.3.22.pr

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