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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.3.7.pr

Procedure for Opening and Verifying a Will in Absence of Signers

Passage 4509 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains the procedure when some signers are absent, stating that the tablets should ideally be sent to them, but in case of urgency, they may be opened in the presence of honorable men, copied, resealed, and then sent for inspection.

[GAIUS libro septimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §29.3.7.prSed si quis ex signatoribus aberit, mitti debent tabulae testamenti ubi ipse sit, uti adgnoscat: nam reuocari eum adgnoscendi causa onerosum est.
[GAIUS, book 7 on the Provincial Edict] But if any of the signers is absent, the tablets of the testament must be sent to where he himself is, so that he may recognize them: for to recall him for the purpose of recognition is burdensome.
quippe saepe cum magna captione a rebus nostris reuocamur et sit iniquum damnosum cuique esse officium suum.
Since indeed we are often recalled from our own affairs with great disadvantage, and it would be unfair for one's own duty to be damaging to anyone.
nec ad rem pertinet, unus absit an omnes.
And it is of no consequence whether one is absent or all.
et si forte omnibus absentibus causa aliqua aperire tabulas urgueat, debet proconsul curare, ut interuenientibus optimae opinionis uiris aperiantur et post descriptum et recognitum factum ab isdem, quibus interuenientibus apertae sunt, obsignentur, tunc deinde eo mittantur, ubi ipsi signatores sint, ad inspicienda sigilla sua.
And if by chance, all being absent, some cause should urge the opening of the tablets, the proconsul must take care that they are opened with men of the highest reputation intervening, and, after the copying and checking have been done, they must be sealed by the same persons in whose presence they were opened; then next, they should be sent to where the signers themselves are, for the purpose of inspecting their own seals.

Notes

  1. §29.3.7.profficium suum — The accusative and infinitive clause damnosum cuique esse officium suum ("that one's own duty is damaging to oneself") serves as the subject of the impersonal expression iniquum [sit] ("it is unfair"). Here, officium refers to the social or moral duty of signing or verifying the testament as a favor.
  2. §29.3.7.prpost descriptum et recognitum factum — The preposition post is combined with the perfect passive participles descriptum and recognitum to denote the action: "after the copying and checking have been done" (similar to the 'ab urbe condita' construction). factum functions as a neuter participle meaning "having been performed," reinforcing the completion of the actions.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.3.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.3.7.pr

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