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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.1.59.pr

Delivery of Land as It Is in the Absence of Guarantees

Passage 2647 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text rules that if the clause "as best and greatest" is not included in a contract of sale for land, the seller is not required to deliver it free of all encumbrances, but only in its actual current state, and the same applies to urban estates.

[CELSUS libro octauo digestorum. ] §18.1.59.prCum uenderes fundum, non dixisti 'ita ut optimus maximusque': uerum est, quod Quinto Mucio placebat, non liberum, sed qualis esset, fundum praestari oportere.
[CELSUS, Digest, Book VIII] When you sold the land, you did not say "in the state of best and greatest". It is true, as Quintus Mucius was pleased to hold, that the land ought to be delivered not as free from all encumbrances, but in whatever state it actually was.
idem et in urbanis praediis dicendum est.
The same must also be said in the case of urban estates.

Notes

  1. §18.1.59.prita ut optimus maximusque — The phrase "ita ut optimus maximusque" (as best and greatest) is a contractual formula guaranteeing that the property sold is entirely free from any servitudes or encumbrances, possessing full and unencumbered ownership. In the absence of this clause, the seller is only obligated to deliver the land in its actual state (qualis esset).
  2. §18.1.59.prnon liberum, sed qualis esset — These words predicatively modify the accusative subject `fundum`. `liberum` (free, meaning "unencumbered by any servitudes") is contrasted with `qualis esset` (of whatever condition it might be, i.e., "in its actual state, including any existing encumbrances"). `esset` is in the imperfect subjunctive, representing an indirect question or clause of characteristic indicating the actual condition of the land at the time of contract.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.1.59.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.1.59.pr

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