Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.1.13.pr-2.1.13.1

Magistrates' Power to Order Trial and its Time Limits

Passage 252 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section establishes that only a magistrate has the authority to order a trial, and that they cannot issue such an order on the day they are to return to private life.

[IDEM libro quinquagensimo primo ad Sabinum. ] §2.1.13.prEum qui iudicare iubet magistratum esse oportet.

[THE SAME, on Sabinus, book fifty-first.] He who orders a trial to be held must be a magistrate.

§2.1.13.1Magistratus autem uel is qui in potestate aliqua sit, ut puta proconsul uel praetor uel alii qui prouincias regunt, iudicare iubere eo die, quo priuati futuri essent, non possunt.

But a magistrate, or one who is in some position of authority, as for instance a proconsul, a praetor, or others who govern provinces, cannot order a trial to be held on that day on which they are to become private citizens.

Notes

2.1.13.priudicare iubet — The combination of iubere (to order) with the infinitive iudicare (to judge). In Roman procedure, this refers to the exercise of jurisdiction whereby a magistrate, rather than judging the case himself, orders an appointed private judge to hear and decide the matter.
2.1.13.1quo priuati futuri essent — The phrase futuri essent is the imperfect subjunctive of the active periphrastic conjugation (future participle with esse), expressing an anticipated future state ('about to become private citizens') within a relative clause of characteristic or temporal relation.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.1.13.pr-2.1.13.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.1.13.pr-2.1.13.1

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