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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §27.8.2.pr

Bar on Co-Tutor Recourse Against Magistrates After Payment

Passage 4052 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is determined that a co-tutor who paid the ward's claim in full cannot seek recourse against the municipal magistrates, as he himself was negligent in failing to demand security or report his insolvent colleague as suspect.

[IDEM libro tertio disputationum. ] §27.8.2.prProponebatur duos tutores a magistratibus municipalibus datos cautione non exacta, quorum alterum inopem decessisse, alterum in solidum conuentum satis pupillo fecisse, et quaerebatur, an tutor iste aduersus magistratum municipalem habere possit aliquam actionem, cum sciret a contutore suo satis non esse exactum.
[THE SAME, in the third book of Disputations.] It was proposed as a case that two tutors were appointed by municipal magistrates without security having been exacted, of whom one died insolvent, while the other, having been sued for the whole amount, satisfied the ward; and it was asked whether that tutor could have any action against the municipal magistrate, since he knew that security had not been exacted from his co-tutor.
dicebam, cum a tutore satis pupillo factum sit, neque pupillum ad magistratus redire posse neque tutorem, cum numquam tutor aduersus magistratus habeat actionem: senatus enim consultum pupillo subuenit: praesertim cum sit, quod tutori imputetur, quod satis a contutore non exegit uel suspectum non fecit, si scit, ut proponitur, magistratibus eum non cauisse.
I replied that since satisfaction had been made to the ward by the tutor, neither the ward nor the tutor could resort to the magistrates, since a tutor never has an action against the magistrates; for the senatusconsultum comes to the aid of the ward. This is especially true since there is a ground of imputation against the tutor, in that he did not exact security from his co-tutor or did not report him as suspect, if he knew, as is proposed in the case, that the co-tutor had not given security to the magistrates.

Notes

  1. 27.8.2.prsatis non esse exactum — The word `satis` is used substantively here as an abbreviation for `satisdatio` (the giving of security/guarantee) in the idiom `satis exigere` (to exact security). Thus, `satis non esse exactum` means that security had not been exacted, mirroring `cautione non exacta` above.
  2. 27.8.2.prsuspectum non fecit — This refers to the Roman legal procedure of accusing a suspect tutor (`accusatio suspecti tutoris`). A co-tutor who knows of his colleague's unfitness or misconduct has a duty to accuse him as "suspect" before the magistrate, and failure to do so constitutes personal negligence (`imputatio`).
  3. 27.8.2.prneque pupillum ad magistratus redire posse neque tutorem — This is an accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction governed by the main verb `dicebam` (I replied). Following the subordinate clause `cum ... factum sit` (since satisfaction has been made), the two coordinated infinitive clauses are `neque pupillum ... redire posse` and `neque tutorem [redire posse]`. The verb `redire` (to go back/return) refers to having recourse to the magistrates for supplementary liability.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §27.8.2.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:27.8.2.pr

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