Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §3.5.1.pr

Necessity of the Edict on Negotiorum Gestio and Absent Parties

Passage 572 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains the necessity of this edict concerning the management of affairs, which aims to protect absent persons from suffering property loss or legal disadvantages while undefended.

[ULPIANUS libro decimo ad edictum. ] §3.5.1.prHoc edictum necessarium est, quoniam magna utilitas absentium uersatur, ne indefensi rerum possessionem aut uenditionem patiantur uel pignoris distractionem uel poenae committendae actionem, uel iniuria rem suam amittant.

[ULPIANUS, on the Edict, book 10.] This edict is necessary because the great utility of absent persons is concerned, lest they, being undefended, should suffer the possession or sale of their property, or the disposal of a pledge, or an action for the forfeiture of a penalty, or should lose their property through injustice.

Notes

§3.5.1.prindefensi — A nominative plural masculine adjective, serving as the subject of the subjunctive verbs patiantur and amittant. In context, it refers to the actual state of the absentium (absent persons) mentioned before, functioning predicatively to mean 'remaining undefended' (without a legal defender in court).
§3.5.1.prpoenae committendae actionem — A gerundive construction. Based on the phrase poena committitur (a penalty is incurred or forfeited upon breach of a condition), it refers to an action to enforce or recover such a forfeited penalty.
§3.5.1.priniuria — The ablative singular of the noun iniuria (injustice, wrong), used here adverbially to mean 'unjustly', 'wrongfully', or 'without legal right' (sine iure).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §3.5.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:3.5.1.pr

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