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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.5.15.pr

Invalidation of Post-Crime Gifts upon Capital Conviction

Passage 6230 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On the constitution of Severus and Antoninus, according to which donations made after a capital crime are invalid only if a conviction subsequently follows.

[MARCIANUS libro tertio institutionum. ] §39.5.15.prPost contractum capitale crimen donationes factae non ualent ex constitutione diuorum Seueri et Antonini, nisi condemnatio secuta sit.
[MARCIANUS in the third book of the institutions.] According to a constitution of the deified Severus and Antoninus, donations made after a capital crime has been committed are invalid, but only if a conviction has followed.

Notes

  1. §39.5.15.prPost contractum capitale crimen — The preposition post is used with the noun capitale crimen and the perfect passive participle contractum (from contraho, "to contract, commit"), meaning "after the commission of a capital crime."
  2. §39.5.15.prnon ualent ... nisi condemnatio secuta sit — The combination of "non ualent" (are not valid / are void) and "nisi" (unless). A literal translation like "are not valid unless a conviction follows" would paradoxically imply that they are valid if convicted. In juristic Latin, this structure means "are void, but only if a conviction follows" (i.e., they remain valid if no conviction follows).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.5.15.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.5.15.pr

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