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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.1.pr-31.0.1.1

Validity of Legacies Dependent on Another's Judgment

Passage 4727 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the validity of legacies left to the judgment of others, explaining that a legacy to a ward subject to 'the judgment of tutors' is interpreted as 'the judgment of an honorable man' and thus involves no condition or delay.

[ULPIANUS libro nono ad Sabinum. ] §31.0.1.prIn arbitrium alterius conferri legatum ueluti condicio potest: quid enim interest, 'si Titius in Capitolium ascenderit' mihi legetur an 'si uoluerit'?
[ULPIANUS, on Sabinus, Book 9] A legacy can be left subject to the judgment of another person as if it were a condition; for what difference does it make whether a legacy is left to me 'if Titius ascends the Capitol' or 'if he wishes'?
§31.0.1.1Sed cum ita legatum sit pupillo siue pupillae 'arbitrio tutorum', neque condicio inest legato neque mora, cum placeat in testamentis legatum in alterius arbitrium collatum pro uiri boni arbitrio accipi.
But when a legacy is left to a male or female ward 'at the judgment of their tutors', there is neither a condition nor a delay in the legacy, since it is accepted that in wills a legacy left to the judgment of another is to be taken as being subject to the judgment of an honorable man.
quae enim mora est in boni uiri arbitrio, quod iniectum legato uelut certam quantitatem exprimit, pro uiribus uidelicet patrimonii?
For what delay is there in the judgment of an honorable man, which, when attached to a legacy, expresses as it were a certain amount, namely according to the capacity of the estate?

Notes

  1. §31.0.1.prIn arbitrium alterius — Meaning 'to the judgment/discretion of another'. In Roman law, a distinction is made between 'arbitrium merum' (purely subjective discretion) and 'arbitrium boni viri' (discretion of an honorable man based on objective fairness). The judgment in the first section (si uoluerit) has the character of the former and is treated as a condition, whereas the tutors' judgment in the next section is treated as the latter.
  2. §31.0.1.1cum placeat — The conjunction cum with the subjunctive present placeat (impersonal verb), meaning 'since it is accepted/ruled that'. The following accusative with infinitive clause (legatum... accipi) functions as the subject of placeat.
  3. §31.0.1.1quod iniectum legato — The relative pronoun quod (neuter nominative) refers back to arbitrio (or the whole phrase uiri boni arbitrio). The perfect passive participle iniectum agrees in gender, number, and case with quod, meaning 'which, having been attached to the legacy'. legato is the dative object of the verb injicere.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.1.pr-31.0.1.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.1.pr-31.0.1.1

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