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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.9.1.pr-2.9.1.1

Requirement of the Same Condition in Undertaking Appearance

Passage 319 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage discusses the interpretation of the requirement "in the same condition" (in eadem causa) when producing a person in court, explaining that it means not worsening the plaintiff's position, and gives examples such as the sale or surrender of a slave.

[ULPIANUS libro septimo ad edictum. ] §2.9.1.prSi quis eum, de quo noxalis actio est, iudicio sisti promisit, praetor ait in eadem causa eum exhibere, in qua tunc est, donec iudicium accipiatur
[ULPIANUS, in the seventh book on the Edict.] If anyone has promised that a person, concerning whom there is a noxal action, shall be produced in court, the praetor says that he must produce him in the same condition in which he then is, until the trial is accepted.
§2.9.1.1'In eadem causa' quid sit, uideamus: et puto uerius eum uideri in eadem causa sistere, qui ad experiendum non facit ius actoris deterius.
Let us see what 'in the same condition' means: and I think it is more correct that he is deemed to be produced in the same condition who, for the purpose of seeking legal remedy, does not make the plaintiff's right worse.
si desinat seruus esse promissoris uel actio amissa sit, non uideri in eadem causa statum Labeo ait: uel si qui pari loco erat in litigando, coepit esse in duriore, uel loco uel persona mutata: itaque si quis ei qui in foro promissoris conueniri non potest uenditus aut potentiori datus sit, magis esse putat, ut non uideatur in eadem causa sisti.
Labeo says that if a slave ceases to belong to the promisor, or the right of action is lost, he is not deemed to have been produced in the same condition; or if one who was in an equal position in litigation begins to be in a more disadvantageous one, either by a change of place or of person. Therefore, if a slave has been sold to someone who cannot be sued in the forum of the promisor, or has been given to a more powerful person, he rather thinks that he is not deemed to be produced in the same condition.
sed et si noxae deditus sit, Ofilius non putat in eadem causa sisti, cum noxae deditione ceteris noxalem actionem peremi putat.
But even if he has been surrendered for damage, Ofilius does not think that he is produced in the same condition, since he thinks that by the surrender for damage, the noxal action is extinguished as to the others.

Notes

  1. §2.9.1.prexhibere — In the accusative-and-infinitive construction, the subject of the active infinitive `exhibere` (the promisor, `quis`) is omitted, and `eum` (the slave subject to the noxal action) is its grammatical object.
  2. §2.9.1.1ad experiendum — The gerund `experiendum` comes from the verb `experior` (to try, to bring an action), and here expresses the purpose: "for the purpose of the plaintiff testing or realizing his right through litigation."
  3. §2.9.1.1statum — This is not the noun `status` (condition), but the perfect passive participle of the verb `sistere` (or the perfect passive infinitive `statum esse` with `esse` omitted), meaning "having been produced." It agrees in gender, number, and case with the preceding `eum`.
  4. §2.9.1.1peremi — The present passive infinitive of the verb `perimere` (to destroy, extinguish), forming an accusative-and-infinitive construction (with `noxalem actionem` as its subject) dependent on `putat`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.9.1.pr-2.9.1.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.9.1.pr-2.9.1.1

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