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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §19.2.45.pr-19.2.45.1

Lessor's Liability for Delicts Committed by Slaves

Passage 2866 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discussion on the lessor's liability for damage or theft caused by leased slaves or slaves in a leased house, comparing the action on the lease with noxal and theft actions.

[Paulus libro uicesimo secundo ad edictum. ] §19.2.45.prSi domum tibi locauero et serui mei tibi damnum dederint uel furtum fecerint, non teneor tibi ex conducto, sed noxali actione.
[PAULUS, from the twenty-second book on the Edict.] If I lease a house to you and my slaves cause you damage or commit a theft, I am not liable to you on the action on the lease, but by a noxal action.
§19.2.45.1Si hominem tibi locauero, ut habeas in taberna, et is furtum fecerit, dubitari potest, utrum ex conducto actio sufficiat, quasi longe sit a bona fide actum, ut quid patiaris detrimenti per eam rem quam conduxisti, an adhuc dicendum sit extra causam conductionis esse furti crimen et in propriam persecutionem cadere hoc delictum: quod magis est.
If I lease a slave to you for you to have in a shop, and he commits a theft, it can be doubted whether the action on the lease is sufficient, on the ground that it is far from good faith that you should suffer any damage through the thing which you leased, or whether it should still be said that the crime of theft is outside the scope of the lease and this delict falls under its own proper pursuit; which is the better view.

Notes

  1. §19.2.45.1quasi longe sit a bona fide actum — The conjunction `quasi` ('as if') takes the subjunctive `sit`. `actum` is a passive participle representing the impersonal infinitive `actum esse` (with `esse` omitted), meaning 'it is dealt with'. The following `ut` clause functions as the substantive subject of this impersonal passive.
  2. §19.2.45.1quid detrimenti — The pronoun `quid` (neuter accusative singular of the indefinite pronoun `quis`, functioning as the direct object of `patiaris`) is accompanied by `detrimenti` (genitive singular of `detrimentum`) as a partitive genitive, meaning 'any damage'.
  3. §19.2.45.1utrum... an... — This introduces an alternative indirect question dependent on the impersonal main verb `dubitari potest` ('it can be doubted'). The first option is `ex conducto actio sufficiat` ('whether the action on the lease is sufficient') and the second is `dicendum sit` ('or whether it should be said'), both using the subjunctive.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §19.2.45.pr-19.2.45.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:19.2.45.pr-19.2.45.1

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