Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.6.14.pr

Recovery of Land Given Mortis Causa and Expenses Incurred

Passage 6264 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It stipulates that if necessary or useful expenses have been incurred on land donated mortis causa, those claiming the land will be barred by the plea of fraud unless they reimburse those expenses.

[IULIANUS libro octauo decimo digestorum. ] §39.6.14.prSi mortis causa donatus fundus est et in eum impensae necessariae atque utiles factae sint, fundum uindicantes doli mali exceptione summouentur, nisi pretium earum restituant.

[JULIANUS, from the eighteenth book of the Digests.] If a tract of land has been donated mortis causa and necessary and useful expenses have been incurred on it, those who claim the land are barred by the plea of fraud, unless they restore the cost of those expenses.

Notes

§39.6.14.prfundum uindicantes — Substantive use of the present participle uindicantes, meaning "those who claim the land (by an action of uindicatio)." Here it refers to the donor (who recovered from illness) or their heirs seeking the return of the property.
§39.6.14.prdoli mali exceptione — The "plea of fraud" (exceptio doli) in Roman civil procedure. Because it is considered bad faith (dolus) for the plaintiff (the claimant of the land) to demand the return of the land while refusing to reimburse the necessary and useful expenses incurred by the recipient, the defendant (the recipient) can block the claim using this plea.
§39.6.14.prearum — A demonstrative pronoun in the genitive feminine plural, referring back to the feminine noun impensae (expenses, here qualified by necessariae atque utiles).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.6.14.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.6.14.pr

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