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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §16.3.3.pr

Duty to Repurchase and Return Deposited Goods Sold in Good Faith

Passage 2408 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text argues that a depositary is not free from fault if, having sold the deposited object in good faith, they are able to buy it back but refuse to do so, or if they refuse to deliver it after having bought it back.

[ULPIANUS libro trigensimo primo ad edictum. ] §16.3.3.prPlane si possit rem redimere et praestare nec uelit, non caret culpa, quemadmodum si redemptam uel alia ratione suam factam noluit praestare causatus, quod semel ignarus uendiderit.
[ULPIANUS libro trigensimo primo ad edictum.] Clearly, if he is able to buy back the thing and deliver it, but is unwilling to do so, he is not free from fault; just as if, after it has been bought back or has become his own by some other means, he refused to deliver it on the pretext that he had once sold it in ignorance.

Notes

  1. §16.3.3.prcaret culpa — The verb carere (to lack, be free from) governs the ablative of separation (here culpa). 'non caret culpa' means 'is not free from fault'.
  2. §16.3.3.prcausatus — Perfect participle of the deponent verb causari (to plead as an excuse, allege as a pretext), carrying an active meaning ('alleging as a pretext'). It is accompanied by the quod-clause.
  3. §16.3.3.prignarus — An adjective in predicate apposition modifying the subject of uendiderit, translated adverbially as 'in ignorance' or 'unknowingly'. In this context, it refers to selling the deposited object without knowing it belonged to someone else.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §16.3.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:16.3.3.pr

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