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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §27.2.2.pr-27.2.2.3

Allowance of Ward's Maintenance and Tutor's Duty to Adjust

Passage 3989 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the standards for a tutor to claim deductions for the ward's maintenance and education in guardianship cases, and the tutor's duty to adjust these amounts in accordance with the ward's financial resources, even when set by the praetor or the father.

[IDEM libro trigesimo sexto ad edictum. ] §27.2.2.prOfficio iudicis, qui tutelae cognoscit, congruit reputationes tutoris non improbas admittere, ut puta si dicat impendisse in alimenta pupilli uel disciplinas.
[THE SAME, from the thirty-sixth book on the Edict.] It is compatible with the duty of the judge who hears a case on guardianship to admit the reasonable deductions of a tutor; for instance, if he should say that he has expended money on the maintenance or education of the ward.
§27.2.2.1Modus autem, si quidem praetor arbitratus est, is seruari debet, quem praetor statuit: si uero praetor non est aditus, pro modo facultatium pupilli debet arbitrio iudicis aestimari: nec enim permittendum est tutori tantum reputare quantum dedit, si plus aequo dedit.
Moreover, as for the amount, if indeed the praetor has made an assessment, that which the praetor established ought to be observed; but if the praetor was not approached, it ought to be estimated by the arbitration of the judge according to the measure of the ward's resources; for it must not be permitted to the tutor to deduct as much as he gave, if he gave more than what was fair.
H §27.2.2.2oc amplius et si praetor modum alimentis statuit, uerumtamen ultra uires facultatium est quod decretum est nec suggessit praetori de statu facultatium, non debet ratio haberi alimentorum omnium, quia, si suggessisset, aut minuerentur iam decreta aut non tanta decernerentur.
H oc In addition to this, even if the praetor has established an amount for the maintenance, yet if what was decreed is beyond the capacity of the resources, and the tutor did not report to the praetor concerning the state of the resources, allowance ought not to be made for the whole maintenance; because, if he had reported, either the amounts already decreed would have been reduced, or such large amounts would not have been decreed.
§27.2.2.3Sed si pater statuit alimenta liberis quos heredes scripserit, ea praestando tutor reputare poterit, nisi forte ultra uires facultatium statuerit: tunc enim imputabitur ei, cur non adito praetore desiderauit alimenta minui.
But if the father established maintenance for the children whom he had appointed as his heirs, the tutor will be able to deduct it by providing it, unless perchance the father established it beyond the capacity of the resources; for in that case, it will be imputed to him why he did not, by approaching the praetor, request that the maintenance be reduced.

Notes

  1. §27.2.2.prtutelae cognoscit — The verb cognoscere (to hear a case, investigate) often takes the genitive (here tutelae) in juristic Latin, rather than the more common de with the ablative, meaning 'to hear a case concerning' or 'to have jurisdiction over'.
  2. §27.2.2.1plus aequo — The ablative of comparison aequo (the neuter substantival ablative of aequus, 'fair, equitable') is used with the comparative plus, forming an idiomatic expression meaning 'more than what is fair' or 'excessively'.
  3. §27.2.2.2si suggessisset, aut minuerentur iam decreta aut non tanta decernerentur — While the protasis (si suggessisset) is in the pluperfect subjunctive, representing a past contrary-to-fact condition, the apodosis (minuerentur, decernerentur) is in the imperfect subjunctive, expressing the continuing state or immediate result in the past (or extending to the present) contrary to fact.
  4. §27.2.2.3adito praetore — An ablative absolute construction (adito praetore) using the perfect passive participle of adire (to approach, petition). Combined with the negation non, it means 'without having approached the praetor' or 'without petitioning the praetor'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §27.2.2.pr-27.2.2.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:27.2.2.pr-27.2.2.3

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