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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.1.42.pr

Freedom Conditioned on Services and the Primacy of Public Law

Passage 5927 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Even if a testator requests a slave to be manumitted on condition of promising services to the heir, the freedman is not compelled to do so, and no action lies against him even if he promises, because a person granting trust-bequeathed freedom cannot derogate from public law.

[IDEM libro nono responsorum. ] §38.1.42.pr'Cerdonem seruum meum manumitti uolo ita, ut operas heredi promittat'. non cogitur manumissus promittere: sed etsi promiserit, in eum actio non dabitur: nam iuri publico derogare non potuit, qui fideicommissariam libertatem dedit.
[BY THE SAME AUTHOR, in his ninth book of Opinions.] 'I wish my slave Cerdo to be manumitted in such a way that he promises services to the heir.' The manumitted person is not compelled to promise; but even if he has promised, no action will be granted against him; for he who granted the trust-bequeathed freedom could not derogate from public law.

Notes

  1. §38.1.42.prita, ut ... promittat — The adverb `ita` combined with the `ut` clause containing the subjunctive `promittat` expresses a restrictive or conditional meaning ('on condition that...').
  2. §38.1.42.prqui ... dedit — The antecedent of the relative pronoun `qui` (such as the demonstrative `is`) is omitted, and this entire relative clause functions as the subject of the main verb `potuit` ('he who gave...').
  3. §38.1.42.priuri publico — Dative case functioning as the complement of the verb `derogare` (to derogate from, restrict).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.1.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.1.42.pr

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