Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.1.45.pr

Seller's Liability Based on Good or Bad Faith for Defective Goods

Passage 2633 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the scope of a seller's liability based on good or bad faith, drawing on the opinions of Labeo, Trebatius, and Julian, in cases where refurbished garments are sold as new or a brass vessel is sold as gold.

[IDEM libro quarto regularum. ] §18.1.45.prLabeo libro posteriorum scribit, si uestimenta interpola quis pro nouis emerit, Trebatio placere ita emptori praestandum quod interest, si ignorans interpola emerit.
[THE SAME, Rules, book 4] Labeo writes in his posthumous works that if anyone should buy refurbished garments as new, Trebatius is of the opinion that the buyer should be indemnified for his interest only if he bought the refurbished garments in ignorance.
quam sententiam et Pomponius probat, in qua et Iulianus est, qui ait, si quidem ignorabat uenditor, ipsius rei nomine teneri, si sciebat, etiam damni quod ex eo contingit: quemadmodum si uas aurichalcum pro auro uendidisset ignorans, tenetur, ut aurum quod uendidit praestet.
Pomponius also approves of this opinion, in which Julian also concurs, who says that if indeed the seller was ignorant, he is liable to the extent of the thing itself, but if he knew, he is liable also for the damage resulting therefrom; just as if someone had sold a brass vessel for gold in ignorance, he is bound to make good the gold which he sold.

Notes

  1. 18.1.45.prita ... si — The adverb `ita` correlates with the following `si` clause, expressing a restrictive condition ("only if...", "on this condition, that..."). Trebatius' opinion limits the recovery of the buyer's interest (`quod interest`) strictly to cases where the buyer acted in ignorance.
  2. 18.1.45.prteneri — This is an infinitive in the accusative-with-infinitive construction governed by the main verb `ait`, with the subject accusative `uenditorem` implied. In the subsequent `si sciebat` clause, `teneri` is understood, and the noun `damni` functions as the genitive of liability required by `tenere`.
  3. 18.1.45.prpraestandum — This is a gerundive construction expressing obligation (`praestandum [esse]`), either impersonal or taking the relative clause `quod interest` (the buyer's interest) as its grammatical subject.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.1.45.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.1.45.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.