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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.5.10.pr

Invalidity of Redundant Appointments Due to Mistake of Fact

Passage 3812 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Marcianus' rule regarding the invalidity of appointing a guardian in the ward's absence for someone who already has one, and the general invalidity of appointments based on factual errors in petitions.

[IDEM libro quinto regularum. ] §26.5.10.prTutor si petitus fuerit habenti, sed absente eo quasi non habenti datus sit, datio nulla est: nam et quoquo modo in petitione tutoris si erratum fuerit in facti causa, maxime post constitutionem diuorum fratrum non ualet tutoris datio.
[THE SAME, from the fifth book of the Rules.] If a guardian is petitioned for someone who already has one, but in his absence is appointed as if he did not have one, the appointment is void; for if in any way an error is made regarding the factual circumstances in the petition for a guardian, the appointment of a guardian is not valid, especially after the constitution of the divine brothers.

Notes

  1. §26.5.10.prhabenti — habenti (and later non habenti) is the dative singular of the present participle of habere used substantively, with the object tutorem (guardian) understood from the context. It means "to one who [already] has [a guardian]." The dative depends on datus sit.
  2. §26.5.10.prabsente eo — Ablative absolute construction consisting of the present participle absente (from abesse, "to be absent") and the pronoun eo in the ablative. eo refers to the ward (the minor), meaning "while he is absent."
  3. §26.5.10.prerratum fuerit — Impersonal passive of the perfect tense of the verb errare ("to err" or "to make a mistake"), meaning "if a mistake has been made." It can be parsed as either perfect subjunctive or future perfect indicative.
  4. §26.5.10.prdiuorum fratrum — "Of the divine brothers," a historical reference to the joint Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (reigned 161-169 AD). The term diuorum indicates their post-mortem deification.
  5. §26.5.10.prnam et quoquo modo — The main subject and verb of the clause introduced by nam ("for") are non ualet tutoris datio ("the appointment of a guardian is not valid"), with the conditional clause quoquo modo... si erratum fuerit... and other adverbial phrases inserted in between. et acts as "even" or "also," emphasizing the entire conditional circumstance.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.5.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.5.10.pr

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