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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §3.3.51.pr-3.3.51.2

Minors as Defenders and Liability Limit of a Husband's Agent

Passage 534 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that a person under twenty-five is not a suitable defender due to their potential relief through restoration to their original position, and that a husband's defender should not be condemned beyond the husband's financial capacity.

[ULPIANUS libro sexagensimo ad edictum. ] §3.3.51.prMinor uiginti quinque annis si defensor existat, ex quibus causis in integrum restitui possit, defensor idoneus non est, quia et ipsi et fideiussoribus eius per in integrum restitutionem succurritur.
[ULPIANUS in the sixtieth book on the edict.] If a person under twenty-five years of age appears as a defender, since there are grounds on which he can be restored to his original position, he is not a suitable defender, because relief is given through restoration to the original position both to himself and to his sureties.
§3.3.51.1Quoniam tamen defendere est eandem uicem quam reus subire, defensor mariti in amplius quam maritus facere possit non est condemnandus.
Since, however, to defend is to undergo the same position as the defendant, a husband's defender ought not to be condemned in an amount greater than what the husband himself is able to pay.
§3.3.51.2Is qui suscepit defensionem, etsi locupletissimus sit,
He who has undertaken a defense, even if he be extremely wealthy,

Notes

  1. §3.3.51.prex quibus causis in integrum restitui possit — The subjunctive present "possit" is used in a relative clause of characteristic or cause, explaining the ground on which a person under twenty-five is not considered a suitable defender.
  2. §3.3.51.prsuccurritur — An impersonal passive of the intransitive verb "succurrere" (to relieve, aid), which governs the dative cases "et ipsi et fideiussoribus eius". It translates to "relief is given to both himself and his sureties."
  3. §3.3.51.1facere possit — Here, "facere" does not simply mean "to do" or "to make," but is used in the sense of "to perform" or "to pay" within the limits of one's financial capacity (beneficium competentiae).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §3.3.51.pr-3.3.51.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:3.3.51.pr-3.3.51.2

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