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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.2.20.pr-26.2.20.1

Bar on Uncertain Tutors and Appointment of Officials

Passage 3766 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is stated that an uncertain person cannot be appointed as a tutor, and that anyone, regardless of their public office, can be appointed as a tutor by will, supported by the authority of the Twelve Tables.

[PAULUS libro trigesimo octauo ad edictum. ] §26.2.20.prTutor incertus dari non potest.
[PAULUS, from the thirty-eighth book on the Edict.] An uncertain tutor cannot be appointed.
§26.2.20.1Testamento quemlibet possumus tutorem dare, siue is praetor siue consul sit, quia lex duodecim tabularum id confirmat.
By will we can appoint anyone as tutor, whether he be praetor or consul, because the Law of the Twelve Tables confirms this.

Notes

  1. §26.2.20.princertus — The adjective incertus here means "uncertain" or "unspecified," referring to a person who cannot be identified as a specific individual at the time the will is made (e.g., "the first person to enter my house after my death"). In Roman law, the appointment of an uncertain person (persona incerta) as a tutor or legatee was generally invalid.
  2. §26.2.20.1tutorem dare — The verb dare (present infinitive of do) means to appoint or designate a tutor. tutorem functions as a predicative accusative in relation to the accusative quemlibet (or the second accusative in a double accusative construction), forming the structure "to appoint anyone as tutor."
  3. §26.2.20.1siue is praetor siue consul sit — This is a concessive clause introduced by siue... siue... ("whether... or..."), where the verb sit is in the third-person singular of the present subjunctive of sum. The subjunctive expresses concession ("even if he be..."). The subject is is a pronoun (nominative) referring back to the preceding accusative quemlibet.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.2.20.pr-26.2.20.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.2.20.pr-26.2.20.1

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