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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §17.2.55.pr

Liability for Penalties Based on Knowledge of Wrongdoing

Passage 2558 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It stipulates that when a partner who committed a wrongdoing is sued, the division of the contribution and the liability for the penalty depends on whether the other partner had knowledge of it, based on the principle of equity.

[ULPIANUS libro trigensimo ad Sabinum. ] §17.2.55.prSi igitur ex hoc conuentus fuerit qui maleficium admisit, id quod contulit aut solum aut cum poena auferet: solum auferet, si mihi proponas insciente socio eum in societatis rationem hoc contulisse: quod si sciente, etiam poenam socium agnoscere oportet: aequum est enim, ut cuius participauit lucrum participet et damnum.
[ULPIANUS in the thirtieth book on Sabinus.] Therefore, if he who committed the wrongdoing has been sued on this account, he will take away what he contributed, either alone or with the penalty: he will take it away alone, if you propose to me that he contributed this to the partnership account without the knowledge of his partner; but if with his knowledge, the partner must also acknowledge the penalty: for it is equitable that he who shared in the profit of a thing should also share in its loss.

Notes

  1. §17.2.55.prsi mihi proponas — A conditional clause using the second-person singular subjunctive "proponas," which is a formulaic expression in juristic debates (such as those in the Digest) meaning "if you propose to me [a legal case or hypothetical scenario]."
  2. §17.2.55.prinsciente socio — An ablative absolute construction consisting of a noun (socio) and a participle used as an adjective (insciente). It functions adverbially, meaning "without the partner knowing." The subsequent "sciente" is likewise an ellipsis of "sciente socio."
  3. §17.2.55.prcuius — Genitive of the relative pronoun. Although the antecedent is not explicitly stated, it functions adjectivally modifying the immediately following "lucrum" ("the profit of which"). The entire relative clause functions as a substantival clause acting as the subject of "participet" ("he who shared in...").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §17.2.55.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:17.2.55.pr

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