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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §27.9.13.pr-27.9.13.1

Alienation of Barren Land and the Plea of Fraud

Passage 4072 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus cites a rescript stating that even unproductive land can be sold for a price proportional to its yield, and discusses the application of the plea of fraud (exceptio doli) against a pupil's claim for recovery when a tutor erroneously sold the land to pay paternal debts.

[PAULUS libro singulari ad orationem diui Seueri. ] §27.9.13.prSi fundus sit sterilis uel saxosus uel pestilens, uidendum est, an alienare eum non possit.
[PAULUS, in the single book on the Address of the Divine Severus.] If a tract of land is barren, rocky, or pestilential, it must be considered whether it cannot be alienated.
et imperator Antoninus et diuus pater eius in haec uerba rescripserunt: 'Quod allegastis infructuosum esse fundum, quem uendere uultis, mouere nos non potest, cum utique pro fructuum modo pretium inuenturus sit'. §27.9.13.1Quamquam autem neque distrahere neque obligare tutor pupillare praedium possit, attamen Papinianus libro quinto responsorum ait tutorem pupilli sine decreto praetoris non iure distrahere: si tamen, inquit, errore lapsus uendiderit et pretium acceptum creditoribus paternis pueri soluerit, quandoque domino praedium cum fructibus uindicanti doli non inutiliter opponitur exceptio pretium ac medii temporis usuras, quae creditoribus debentur, non offerenti, si ex ceteris eius facultatibus aes alienum solui non poterit. ego autem notaui: etsi solui potuerit, si tamen illae res saluae erunt, ex quarum pretio aeri alieno satisfieri potuit, dicendum est adhuc doli exceptionem obstare, si lucrum captet pupillus ex damno alieno.
And the Emperor Antoninus and his divine father replied by rescript in these words: 'The fact that you allege that the land you wish to sell is unproductive cannot move us, since in any case it will find a price in proportion to its yield.' Although, however, a tutor can neither alienate nor pledge a pupil's estate, nevertheless Papinianus says in the fifth book of his Opinions that the tutor of a pupil does not lawfully alienate without a decree of the praetor: "If, however," he says, "having fallen into error, he has sold it and paid the price received to the father's creditors of the boy, whenever the owner claims the estate with its fruits, the plea of fraud is not uselessly opposed to him if he does not offer the price and the interest for the intermediate time which was owed to the creditors, provided that the debt could not be paid from his other resources." But I have noted: even if it could have been paid, yet if those things remain intact from whose price the debt could have been satisfied, it must be said that the plea of fraud still stands in the way, if the pupil seeks to make a profit from another's loss.

Notes

  1. §27.9.13.prcum utique pro fructuum modo pretium inuenturus sit — With the land (fundus) as the implied subject, the active future participle 'inuenturus' with the accusative 'pretium' means 'the land will find a price', i.e., 'it will fetch a price'. 'pro fructuum modo' means 'in proportion to the yield'.
  2. §27.9.13.1domino praedium cum fructibus uindicanti doli non inutiliter opponitur exceptio pretium ac medii temporis usuras ... non offerenti — The core structure of the sentence is 'exceptio doli opponitur domino' (the plea of fraud is opposed to the owner). Two present participle phrases, 'uindicanti' (claiming the estate) and 'non offerenti' (not offering the price), modify 'domino'. 'non inutiliter' is a double negation meaning 'effectively' or 'successfully'.
  3. §27.9.13.1si tamen illae res saluae erunt, ex quarum pretio aeri alieno satisfieri potuit — 'illae res' (those things) is the subject, modified by the relative clause 'ex quarum pretio...'. This refers to the other property of the pupil which, if it had remained intact instead of being sold unlawfully, could have been used to satisfy the debt (aes alienum).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §27.9.13.pr-27.9.13.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:27.9.13.pr-27.9.13.1

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