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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.6.7.pr

Ignorance of Law in Acquiring versus Claiming Rights

Passage 3285 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It contrasts the effect of ignorance of the law between those who seek to acquire something new and those who seek to claim what already belongs to them.

[PAPINIANUS libro nono decimo quaestionum. ] §22.6.7.prIuris ignorantia non prodest adquirere uolentibus: suum uero petentibus non nocet.
[PAPINIANUS, in his nineteenth book of Questions.] Ignorance of the law does not benefit those who wish to acquire; however, it does not prejudice those who seek what is theirs.

Notes

  1. §22.6.7.pradquirere uolentibus — Dative present participle phrase, serving as the indirect object of "non prodest". It refers to those who wish to "acquire" some new right or property (lucrum captando), in contrast to those who seek what is already theirs.
  2. §22.6.7.prsuum uero petentibus — Dative present participle phrase, serving as the indirect object of "non nocet". "suum" (what is theirs) is used substantively in the neuter singular, referring to those who seek to recover or claim their own existing rights or property to avoid loss (damnum uitando).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.6.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.6.7.pr

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