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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.5.5.pr-29.5.5.3

Entry before Inquiry and Duty to Investigate Death

Passage 4551 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses the application of the edict to necessary heirs, its extension to all possessions of goods, the confiscation of property upon early entry before the slave inquiry, and the heir's duty to investigate deaths caused by negligence or medical treachery.

[ULPIANUS libro quinquagesimo ad edictum. ] §29.5.5.prNecessarios heredes puto edicto comprehendi, si se misceant hereditati.
[ULPIANUS, Book 50 on the Edict] I think that necessary heirs are included in the edict, if they meddle with the inheritance.
§29.5.5.1Nec bonorum possessionem peti praetor permittit: et ego puto ad omnes bonorum possessiones hoc edictum pertinere.
Nor does the praetor permit the possession of goods to be petitioned for; and I think that this edict applies to all possessions of goods.
§29.5.5.2Non alias bona publicantur, quam si constabit esse occisum patrem familias et heredem ante quaestionem de familia habitam suppliciumque sumptum adisse hereditatem.
Property is not confiscated unless it is established both that the father of the family was killed and that the heir entered upon the inheritance before the inquiry into the household was held and punishment inflicted.
§29.5.5.3Ubi quis incuria necatus est uel medici insidiis, adiri quidem hereditas potest, sed heredi defensio mortis incumbit.
Where anyone has been killed through negligence or by the treachery of a physician, the inheritance can indeed be entered upon, but the defense of the death is incumbent upon the heir.

Notes

  1. §29.5.5.prnecessarios heredes — Refers to necessary heirs, such as those under the power of the deceased (heredes sui et necessarii) or slaves manumitted and instituted as heirs by the will (heredes necessarii). Although they become heirs automatically without a formal act of entry (aditio), if they actively meddle with the inheritance (se miscere), they fall under the scope of this edict.
  2. §29.5.5.2Non alias ... quam si — A conditional construction expressing a strict limitation ("not otherwise ... than if", i.e., "only if"). It indicates that the confiscation of property (publicatio) occurs only when both requirements are met: the fact of the householder's murder and the heir's entry into the inheritance prior to the inquiry and punishment.
  3. §29.5.5.3defensio mortis — Literally "defense of the death," but here it denotes the legal and ethical obligation of the heir to investigate the cause of the deceased's death (such as negligence or a physician's plot) and to properly prosecute or bring the responsible parties to justice.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.5.5.pr-29.5.5.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.5.5.pr-29.5.5.3

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