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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.1.15.pr-18.1.15.2

Prior Destruction of Property and Purchase of One's Own Goods

Passage 2603 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the invalidity of a sale if the object ceases to exist before the transaction, the requirement that a buyer's ignorance must not stem from extreme negligence to benefit him, and the non-transfer of ownership when one unknowingly buys one's own property and orders its delivery to a third party.

[PAULUS libro quinto ad Sabinum. ] §18.1.15.prEt si consensum fuerit in corpus, id tamen in rerum natura ante uenditionem esse desierit, nulla emptio est.
[PAULUS, in the fifth book on Sabinus.] Even if agreement has been reached on a specific object, yet if it has ceased to exist before the sale, there is no purchase.
§18.1.15.1Ignorantia emptori prodest, quae non in supinum hominem cadit.
Ignorance benefits a buyer, provided that it does not apply to an inactive, negligent person.
§18.1.15.2Si rem meam mihi ignoranti uendideris et iussu meo alii tradideris, non putat Pomponius dominium meum transire, quoniam non hoc mihi propositum fuit, sed quasi tuum dominium ad eum transire: et ideo etiam si donaturus mihi rem meam iussu meo alii tradas, idem dicendum erit.
If you sell me my own property when I am ignorant of the fact, and deliver it to another by my order, Pomponius does not think that my ownership passes, because this was not my purpose, but rather that your ownership, as it were, should pass to him; and therefore, even if you, intending to make a gift to me of my own property, deliver it to another by my order, the same must be said.

Notes

  1. 18.1.15.prconsensum fuerit — An impersonal passive in the perfect subjunctive within the conditional clause ('si'), representing a hypothetical condition. It pairs with the indicative present ('est') in the main clause to state a general rule of law.
  2. 18.1.15.1supinum hominem — Derived from the adjective 'supinus' (lying on one's back, indolent), it refers to a person acting with extreme negligence or carelessness. Thus, ignorance resulting from such gross negligence ('supina ignorantia') does not benefit the buyer.
  3. 18.1.15.2donaturus — The future active participle of 'dono' (to make a gift). It modifies the subject of the clause ('tradas', second-person singular 'you'), forming a participle construction that expresses subjective intention or purpose ('intending to make a gift').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.1.15.pr-18.1.15.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.1.15.pr-18.1.15.2

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