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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §21.3.1.pr-21.3.1.5

Scope of the Defence of Property Sold and Delivered

Passage 3158 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses how the exception of a sold and delivered thing (exceptio rei venditae et traditae) applies under various circumstances, such as when one acquires ownership after selling another's land, transactions by agents or slaves, and the acquisition of possession without defect.

[ULPIANUS libro septuagesimo sexto ad edictum. ] §21.3.1.prMarcellus scribit, si alienum fundum uendideris et tuum postea factum petas, hac exceptione recte repellendum.
[ULPIANUS, Book 76 on the Edict.] Marcellus writes that if you have sold another's land, and later, having become its owner, you claim it, you must be rightfully repelled by this exception.
§21.3.1.1Sed et si dominus fundi heres uenditori existat, idem erit dicendum.
But also, if the owner of the land becomes the heir to the seller, the same must be said.
§21.3.1.2Si quis rem meam mandatu meo uendiderit, uindicanti mihi rem uenditam nocebit haec exceptio, nisi probetur me mandasse, ne traderetur, antequam pretium soluatur.
If anyone has sold my property by my mandate, this exception will bar me when I claim the sold property, unless it is proved that I mandated that it should not be delivered before the price is paid.
§21.3.1.3Celsus ait: si quis rem meam uendidit minoris quam ei mandaui, non uidetur alienata et, si petam eam, non obstabit mihi haec exceptio: quod uerum est.
Celsus says: if anyone has sold my property for less than I mandated him, it does not seem to be alienated, and if I claim it, this exception will not stand in my way; which is true.
§21.3.1.4Si seruus merces peculiariter emerit, deinde dominus eum, priusquam proprietatem rerum nancisceretur, testamento liberum esse iusserit eique peculium praelegauerit et uenditor a seruo merces petere coeperit: exceptio in factum locum habebit, quia is tunc seruus fuisset cum contraxisset.
If a slave has bought goods in connection with his peculium, and then his master, before acquiring ownership of the goods, has ordered by will that he be free and has pre-legacyed the peculium to him, and the seller begins to claim the goods from the slave: an exception in factum will have place, because he was a slave at the time when he contracted.
§21.3.1.5Si quis rem emerit, non autem fuerit ei tradita, sed possessionem sine uitio fuerit nactus, habet exceptionem contra uenditorem, nisi forte uenditor iustam causam habeat, cur rem uindicet: nam et si tradiderit possessionem, fuerit autem iusta causa uindicanti, replicatione aduersus exceptionem utetur.
If anyone has bought a thing, and it has not been delivered to him, but he has obtained possession without defect, he has an exception against the seller, unless perhaps the seller has a just cause to claim the thing; for even if he has delivered possession, but there is a just cause for the one who claims, he will use a replication against the exception.

Notes

  1. 21.3.1.prrepellendum — A passive periphrastic infinitive (repellendum [esse]) depending on Marcellus scribit, where the accusative subject (te, referring to the seller who now claims the land) is ellipted.
  2. 21.3.1.2uindicanti mihi — The dative pronoun mihi with its modifying participle uindicanti functions as the object of nocebit ("will harm me who claims"). rem uenditam is the direct object (accusative) of the participle uindicanti.
  3. 21.3.1.4priusquam proprietatem rerum nancisceretur — The subject of the subjunctive imperfect nancisceretur is the master (dominus) in this context; it refers to the moment before the master acquired definitive ownership of the goods through the slave.
  4. 21.3.1.5uindicanti — The substantivized participle uindicanti functions as a dative of possession with fuerit ("if there should be a just cause for the one claiming", i.e., the seller).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §21.3.1.pr-21.3.1.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:21.3.1.pr-21.3.1.5

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