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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.2.4.pr

Exception from the Edict for Actions against Violators

Passage 263 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains the praetor's elegant exception, which excludes from the edict's penalty cases where an action is taken against someone who had himself committed a similar violation, and points out its reasonableness.

[GAIUS libro primo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §2.2.4.prIllud eleganter praetor excipit: 'praeterquam si quis eorum contra eum fecerit, qui ipse eorum quid fecisset': et recte, ne scilicet uel magistratus, dum studet hoc edictum defendere, uel litigator, dum uult beneficio huius edicti uti, ipse in poenam ipsius edicti committat.
[GAIUS, on the Provincial Edict, Book I.] The praetor elegantly makes the following exception: 'except where any of them has acted against a person who himself had done any of those things'; and rightly so, namely, lest either the magistrate, while he is eager to uphold this edict, or the litigant, while he wishes to enjoy the benefit of this edict, should himself incur the penalty of the same edict.

Notes

  1. §2.2.4.preleganter — Meaning 'elegantly' or 'suitably.' An evaluative adverb common in the Digest, used to praise a legal rule or interpretation for being highly rational and consistent.
  2. §2.2.4.preorum quid — eorum is a partitive genitive modifying quid ('any of those things'). It functions here as a neuter plural genitive referring to the unjust judicial acts prohibited by the edict.
  3. §2.2.4.prin poenam ipsius edicti committat — The phrase committere in poenam is a legal idiom meaning 'to incur a penalty' or 'to become subject to a punishment' through some violation. Here it is used in the subjunctive mood within the purpose clause introduced by ne.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.2.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.2.4.pr

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