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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.5.12.pr

Minimum Number of Witnesses When Unspecified

Passage 3265 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian states the interpretative rule that when the number of witnesses is not specified, a plural expression is satisfied by the minimum plural number of 'two.'

[ULPIANUS libro trigesimo septimo ad edictum. ] §22.5.12.prUbi numerus testium non adicitur, etiam duo sufficient: pluralis enim elocutio duorum numero contenta est.
[ULPIAN, On the Edict, Book 37.] Where the number of witnesses is not specified, even two will suffice: for a plural expression is satisfied with the number of two.

Notes

  1. §22.5.12.prsufficient — The third-person plural future of the verb sufficio. In legal texts, the future tense is commonly used to state a general rule or normative consequence.
  2. §22.5.12.prduorum numero contenta est — The adjective contentus (satisfied, content) takes the ablative of specification or cause, duorum numero. It literally means 'is satisfied with the number of two,' implying that the requirement of a plural noun is met by the minimum plural unit.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.5.12.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.5.12.pr

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