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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §21.2.62.pr-21.2.62.2

Sale of Possessed Things and Heirs' Eviction Liability

Passage 3143 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Celsus discusses the liability for eviction in the sale of a thing already in the buyer's possession, the indivisibility of eviction liability among multiple heirs and the effect of notice, and the action on a stipulation for eviction when a third party claims a usufruct despite having suffered a loss of status.

[CELSUS libro uicesimo septimo digestorum. ] §21.2.62.prSi rem quae apud te esset uendidissem tibi, quia pro tradita habetur, euictionis nomine me obligari placet. §21.2.62.1Si ei qui mihi uendidit plures heredes exstiterunt, una de euictione obligatio est omnibusque denuntiari et omnes defendere debent: si de industria non uenerint in iudicium, unus tamen ex is liti substitit, propter denuntiationis uigorem praedictam absentiam omnibus uincit aut uincitur, recteque cum ceteris agam, quod euictionis nomine uicti sint. §21.2.62.2Si fundum, in quo usus fructus Titii erat, qui ei relictus est quoad uiuet, detracto usu fructu ignoranti mihi uendideris et Titius capite deminutus fuerit et aget Titius ius sibi esse utendi fruendi, competit mihi aduersus te ex stipulatione de euictione actio: quippe si uerum erat, quod mihi dixisses in uenditione, recte negarem Titio ius esse utendi fruendi.
[CELSUS libro uicesimo septimo digestorum.]\n\nIf I have sold to you a thing which was in your possession, because it is held as delivered, it is accepted that I am bound on account of eviction.\n\nIf several heirs have emerged to the person who sold to me, the obligation regarding eviction is single, and notice must be given to all and all must defend; if they deliberately do not come to court, but one of them nevertheless undertakes the litigation, by virtue of the notice, he wins or loses for all despite the aforementioned absence, and I shall rightly sue the others on the ground that they have been defeated on account of eviction.\n\nIf you have sold to me, who was ignorant of the fact, a tract of land in which Titius had a usufruct which was left to him for life, as if the usufruct were excluded, and Titius has suffered loss of status, and Titius brings an action claiming that he has the right of usufruct, an action on the stipulation regarding eviction is available to me against you; for if what you had told me at the sale were true, I would have rightly denied that Titius had the right of usufruct.

Notes

  1. §21.2.62.prpro tradita habetur — Formed with the preposition pro and the perfect participle tradita (ablative feminine singular, agreeing with rem). This refers to the doctrine of "traditio breui manu" (delivery with short hand), in which physical delivery is dispensed with because the buyer already holds the thing.
  2. §21.2.62.1liti substitit — Perfect tense of the verb subsistere (to withstand, support, or take upon oneself). It indicates that one of the co-heirs stepped in to undertake the defense or represent the other absent heirs in the lawsuit.
  3. §21.2.62.1praedictam absentiam — An accusative noun phrase. It functions to express the circumstance "despite the aforementioned absence (of the other heirs)" in relation to the main verbs uincit aut uincitur. Some manuscripts read the ablative absentia.
  4. §21.2.62.2detracto usu fructu — An ablative absolute composed of the perfect participle detracto and the noun usu fructu (ablative of the fourth-declension ususfructus). It means "the usufruct being deducted (excluded)," indicating that the seller sold the land representing it as free from the burden of the usufruct.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §21.2.62.pr-21.2.62.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:21.2.62.pr-21.2.62.2

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