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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §24.3.50.pr

Restitution of Unauthorized Sold Appraised Dowry Items

Passage 3642 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the obligation to return dowry property when an agreement stipulated that existing appraised items should be returned in kind with adjustments, and non-existing ones returned at their initial value, focusing on items sold by the husband without the wife's consent.

[SCAEUOLA libro secundo responsorum. ] §24.3.50.prAestimatis rebus in dotem datis pactum intercessit, ut, ex quacumque causa dos reddi deberet, ipsae res restituerentur habita ratione augmenti et deminutionis uiri boni arbitratu, quae uero non exstarent, ab initio aestimatio earum: quaesitum est, cum res quaedam quas maritus uendiderat exstarent, an secundum pactum et haec ad mulierem pertinerent.
[SCAEVOLA, Book 2 of Opinions.] When estimated things had been given as dowry, an agreement was entered into that, from whatever cause the dowry ought to be returned, the things themselves should be restored, taking into account increase and decrease according to the judgment of an honorable man, but for those which did not exist, their valuation from the beginning should be restored. The question was raised: since certain things which the husband had sold existed, whether according to the agreement these also belonged to the wife.
respondi res quae exstant, si neque uolente neque ratum habente muliere uenissent, perinde reddendas, atque si nulla aestimatio interuenisset.
I answered that the things which exist, if they had been sold without the wife either willing it or ratifying it, should be returned just as if no valuation had taken place.

Notes

  1. §24.3.50.pruiri boni arbitratu — The ablative arbitratu of the noun arbitratus, accompanied by the genitive phrase uiri boni, indicates the standard or manner: "according to the judgment of an honorable man." It expresses legal equity (evaluation by an objective third party).
  2. §24.3.50.prquae uero non exstarent, ab initio aestimatio earum — Under the influence of the preceding ut... restituerentur, a verb such as ut restitueretur (or similar verb of restoring) is omitted. The structure is: "as for those which did not exist, their valuation from the beginning [should be restored]."
  3. §24.3.50.pruenissent — Although morphologically it could be confused with the pluperfect subjunctive of uenio ("to come"), here it is the pluperfect subjunctive of the semi-passive verb ueneo ("to be sold", which functions as the passive of uendo). Given the context that the husband "had sold" (uendiderat) the items, it must be interpreted as "if they had been sold."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §24.3.50.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:24.3.50.pr

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